Something to Talk About
by Wolf Girl
Summary: Duo is a slightly eccentric senior who's been kicked out of his liberal arts high school. He's forced to come to terms with life and with his past as he's enrolled in an ordinary public school. Yaoi. COMPLETE.
1. One: Remuneration

**Something to Talk About**  
By Wolf Girl  
  
_Disclaimer:_ I do not have any sort of ownership over the characters or the premise of Gundam Wing. I do not make any sort of profit off of this story.  
  
_Warnings:_ AU, Yaoi, minor Relena bastardization, OOC Heero.

_Author's Note:_ Unfortunately, my grammar and punctuation usage is a weird mix of American and British styles... Enough said.

_Pairings:_ 1x2x1, others... Italics = thought (unless obviously otherwise.

(:::)

**ONE: Remuneration**  
  
All of the talking in the room stopped when Duo walked in. Out of a fancy dining room full of frills, he had ear cuffs and elbow gloves. To the eyes that raked hungrily over his pretty face, the heavy black eyeliner he wore made his purple eyes stand out. The rips in the knees of his pants seemed to fray more whenever someone even brushed past him. His chestnut hair was braided and fell down to the small of his back, swaying gently with each step he took.  
  
Freshmen prep hurriedly moved her polished shoes out of the way of black combat boots. She clutched her lunch tray tightly to her chest and looked at Duo with wide eyes as he went past.  
  
Duo delicately put food onto his plate and left the lunch line. He found a seat in the corner at a table by himself. He crossed his legs and, using them as a platform, started drawing modified henna patterns on the only part of his arm that showed through a rip in his sleeve using an ink pen from one of the many pockets on his pants.  
  
The chatter resumed. All the raised hackles and blonde glares turned into smiles addressing acquaintances. The tension went back to the neat little tempers which were restrained, but which sometimes broke free.  
  
"What do you mean he got kicked out of a liberal arts school? Can you even _get_ kicked out of a liberal arts school?" Someone asked rather loudly. Duo glanced up. The speaker was an older teen, probably a senior, with ginger coloured hair.  
  
Duo winced as he heard his sister Relena pipe in. "Well, he's adopted, and he was a bit _too _rough around the edges for the liberals if you know what I mean."  
  
The man leered at Duo, catching his eye. "Yeah," he said, voice low and grating.  
  
"He's a baka." A deep voice said, ending discussion.  
  
Duo could see everyone looking at him. He sunk low in his chair. It was his first day after transferring to the new school, and already he was miserable. The bell rang and he stood up, walking out with his head held high.  
  
A hand caught the end of his braid and gave it a sharp tug. Duo whipped around to face a well-muscled boy with dark blue eyes and a mop of dark brown hair.  
  
"Heero," Duo acknowledged his sister's long-time crush and borderline obsession.  
  
"Hn." Heero grunted back, then walked off.  
  
Duo hefted his bag and started toward his classroom as well. He could hear people whispering things about his appearance and his rumored past. Duo walked into the classroom, and it fell silent.  
  
"If I knew I was causing _this_ much trouble, I might have just skipped class," he said loudly. A pack of girls glared over their French manicures and didn't even bother to whisper their snide comments.  
  
Duo sighed and toyed with the end of his braid, as he was apt to do in stressed moments. He stretched, showing quite a lot of flawless ivory skin, and then slumped over his book, In Dubious Battle. This caused even more comments. "Look, it's a Nazi punk," someone snickered.  
  
"Too bad it's about Communists, not Nazis," Duo shot back pointedly.  
  
At this point, the dignified teacher Mr. Roberts entered the room and sat down to call roll, attempting to look formidable while comfortably arranging his bulky self.  
  
Wilfred Roberts was a white-haired elderly man who taught literature enthusiastically and leniently. As long as you read an actual book that was more than one hundred pages long, he didn't really care too much what it book it was. Of course, you were expected to turn in term papers, so the reports were more often than not written about books not actually read so that Mr. Roberts' ears weren't singed with overly romantic storylines (that happened to be the one unwritten agreement in the class).  
  
"Ah Cy, Amos, Barnes, Benton, Burne, Cartwright, Delacey, Davenport, Dickens, Frank, Gurney, Graff, James, Kushrenada, Maxwell, Mendez... "The teacher didn't pause as he called names. He took for granted no one would skip his class. Luckily for him, most students actually liked his class, and the rest had the decency to show up.  
  
Duo spent the class absentmindedly doodling on a pad of paper, only half listening to the teacher. When the bell rang, he sighed gustily as he looked at his schedule. Gym was next. "I really _hate_ gym," he commented loudly to no one in particular.

(:::)

He made his way to the locker room, finally arriving before everyone else, but only because he didn't have a social life yet, and things didn't seem to be looking up either. He set to work taking off his makeup and changing into his gym uniform, shorts and a tee shirt. His hair he left in a braid as always.  
  
By then the other boys had come in. They gave him a wide berth. A few, including the boy from the lunchroom, stared at him hungrily as he changed his shirt. Duo guessed his name was Treize from what the other boys were calling him.  
  
The coach came into the locker room. "Now boys, it's time to start your workout. I want ten laps around the gym, and if I catch anyone walking, that's four more laps for everyone!" he barked, waving his clipboard in the air as he continued. "Now get moving!"  
  
About fifteen minutes later, Duo had decided that gym was relatively boring with Heero being strangely protective of him. No one bothered him, and he didn't get shoved down during the basketball game. The only problem he'd noticed was when Heero slammed Treize up against a wall and had hissed something into his ear.  
  
All the boys went to the locker room to shower after gym, talking and generally having a nice time of it. Duo felt like an outsider as he went to take his shower, choosing the last stall to get away from all the unfriendly boys.  
  
After a while, Duo looked up from his shower, suddenly suspicious about the lack of noise. His towel and clothes were gone. He swore fluently in several languages, then smirked. Well, if they wanted to play tricks, he would rise to the occasion.  
  
Duo finished showering, let down his hair, combed it out and left it loose around his body. It flowed over his porcelain skin like an auburn curtain. He put on his shoes and socks, then stepped out of the locker room and left, walking to his car with nothing on but his sneakers.  
  
A general awed hush followed him, followed by a loud scream. "DUO!!!!!!" Relena's voice reverberated out the door.  
  
Duo noticed that his clothes were bundled up on his car seat. He got dressed, wincing, and drove off, certain he would get his due from his sister when he got home. I'm already lucky a teacher didn't see me, he thought.  
  
"Mom! I'm home!" He called, slinging his backpack onto the bed in his room, then going to the kitchen from where he could hear his mother singing along with the radio.  
  
"How was your day?" Her mother was peeling potatoes into the sink. She looked up, wispy blonde hair in her face. A pair of eyes to match her son's twinkled. "Set the table and I'll show you what I made for dinner."  
  
Being a cook, albeit a famous one as a profession, Duo's mother seldom cooked anything while at home. They didn't get one of 'Mother's fancy meals' that often, though that was mostly because she wasn't home. That being the case, Duo usually did all the cooking for the family. And since his father only ate dinner at home, and Relena usually just wanted toast for breakfast (she 'dieted'), Duo's skills were considerably limited.  
  
Relena stormed in. "DUO!! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!"  
  
Duo ducked out of the room and ran upstairs. _I hope I don't miss dinner,_ he thought, locking his door and fortifying it with a chair. _It's going to be a long week._

(:::)

**End notes:** Remunerate means to pay an equivalent to for any service, loss, or expense.  
  
E-mail me any questions! R&R si vous plait!


	2. Two: Acrimony

**Something to Talk About**

By Wolf Girl  
  
_Disclaimer:_ I do not have any sort of ownership over the characters or the premise of Gundam Wing. I do not make any sort of profit off of this story.

_Warnings:_ AU, Yaoi, minor Relena bastardization, OOC Heero (not stoic enough, please forgive me).

_AN Warning:_ Unfortunately, my grammar and punctuation usage is a weird mix of American and British styles... Enough said.

_Pairings:_ 1x2x1, others...

**TWO: Acrimony**  
  
_Journal Entry #67  
  
These people think they know me. They say my hair is brown, my eyes are violet, they say I'm cheerful all the time. They expect me to talk and be happy. They think I like being the center of attention, that I do things to get attention.  
  
But I'm not always happy. I feel sad just like anyone else. My constant cheerfulness is just a facade to cover up whatever my true feelings are. I can't share my feelings with others. I learned long ago that feelings are best kept to yourself.  
  
And sometimes I like being alone..._

(:::)  
  
Duo paced his room as he the phone rang. "Pick up..." he murmered, then made a face as he got the answering machine. "Hey, Hilde this is Duo calling. I dunno where you are, but-- Hilde! Why didn't you answer the phone?"  
  
Duo sighed in an exaggerated manner. "Hilde, you watch out for yourself. If you run around with that crowd you'll get yourself into-- What? I do not!" Duo squacked as his best friend accused him of mothering her.

"Okay, maybe a little. That's why I left though! Liberal arts school my ass! It's just as bad as high school. I even like this brand of torture better than the acadamy's... Okay..." Duo shut up as was requested, but only for a second as he launched into another tirade.  
  
"Well, I've become something of a living legend at school. They don't bother to ask me why I left the acadamy, they just speculate... Yeah, like burning down dormitories and threatening teachers and stuff... Sleeping with a teacher... Those are my favorite ones. Oh? So how's that? I see. Really? Well, you watch out there. I'm not there to-- okay." Duo was silent as his friend told him to shut up yet again.  
  
"And the locker room incident! I told you about that, right? Well now there are photos everywhere like I'm some kind of pin-up!" Duo shuddered. He paused as Hilde suggested some sort of solution. "I don't know who has the negatives, but it sure keeps me rolling in phone numbers... What? Oh, both guys and girls! No... They always just want a good time. They don't even know me or bother to get to know me... Yeah... Well, it could be worse..."  
  
"Relena and her 'group' aren't happy though... I draw the attention away from them." Duo grinned evilly. "Yeah, they do their best to make school a living hell for me. Good thing I'm me, right Hilde?" Duo threw a dart at the dartboard he had afixed to the back of his door. "Well recently it's been more like sneering and tripping. I think they're running out of things to do. Yeah. My only advantage is my good looks. Nevermind my brains or brawn or my _exceedingly_ wonderful artistic skills. Yeah yeah... So when're you coming to visit?"  
  
"DUO GET OFF THE PHONE! I NEED TO CALL MARIA!!!" Relena yelled from just outside his door.  
  
Duo winced. "Okay, sounds good. Okay. Bye, Hilders." Duo hung up the phone and threw himself on his bed. "YOU CAN USE THE DAMN PHONE NOW, OKAY PRINCESS??!"  
  
The door creaked open and Relena rushed in, only to snatch the phone from Duo's lax hand. "You're always hogging the phone talking to your _girlfriend_."  
  
"Too bad I'm GAY!!" Duo yelled. "What do you want the phone for so bad anyway? You only get like this when you call your little _boyfriend_ Heero. All he ever says is 'Hn,' anyway, how can you have a conversation with him on the phone?"  
  
"Your hair is messy. You should rebraid it," Relena commented snidely as she left the room, purposefully ignoring Duo's questions.  
  
Duo groaned and buried his face in his pillow.

(:::)

Duo still occupied a table by himself in the dining room and still spent his lunches drawing fake tattoos on himself rather than eating his school- provided lunch  
  
The other half of his solitary eating habit was that he bother acting particularly welcoming. A person would have to be partially crazy to go sit with a person who was a rumored wacko.  
  
_The only good thing I've got going for me is my bad reputation. It keeps me safe. No one will really mess with someone if they think that person will knife them,_ Duo thought.  
  
"May I sit here?" a light male voice asked.  
  
Duo looked up. A petite blonde boy with large aquamarine eyes was standing in front of his table. The blonde flashed a shy smile and quickly glanced around the room.  
  
"Someone told me you were mean, but I can tell that's not true," the blonde went on. "And you were sitting by yourself, so I decided to come over. I don't know anyone yet anyway."  
  
"Sit if you want to. You'll catch hell for it later. I'm Duo Maxwell- Peacecraft, the resident eccentric. I may run, I may hide, but I never lie." Duo stuck out his hand.  
  
"Quatre Rabera Winner, pleased to meet you. I've been called a bit eccentric myself. This is my first day at school here." Quatre set his tray down and they shook hands.  
  
"Well, this is my first week. 'Hello, Devil, welcome to hell,' as said in _Inherit the Wind_."  
  
The blonde boy laughed and slid into a chair. "I've read that book, and that's funny. You're funny. I hope we can be friends."  
  
"Me too. You can have too many enemies, but never too many friends!"  
  
"A person can have too many sisters though. I've got twenty-nine of them, and they're _all_ older than me." Quatre quipped.  
  
Duo promptly choked on a mouthful of sandwich. "And here I thought that one sister was bad. We're the same age because I'm adopted. She seems to take the adopted part personally, like there was something wrong with _her_ so our parents had to get _me_ too. Well, she's popular and I'm not so I don't see what's got her all worried. She's _that _one, over there in the pink." He gestured behind himself to the general area where Relena was sitting.  
  
"Oh, the one talking to the brunette boy staring at you?" Quatre asked innocently.  
  
"Yeah-- someone's starying at me?" Duo craned his neck to look. "Which one?"  
  
Quatre pointed to the sullen faced Heero Yuy. Duo blanched.  
  
"Naw, couldn't have been him. You must have got it wrong. He's not looking _now_. Besides, that guy, Heero Yuy, he _hates_ me."  
  
"I guess I could have been mistaken." Quatre shrugged, realising this was an unsafe subject.  
  
"So where'd you move from?" Duo asked, eager to change the conversation.  
  
"I moved here from Wisconsin. My father had had me in a conservatory but decided I needed to get a real education."  
  
"A conservatory? I used to go to a liberal arts school. It wasn't a normal liberal arts school though. There were all kinds of..."  
  
_That's very interesting_, Quatre thought as Heero started looking their way again, then his attention went back to what Duo was saying.

(:::)

**End notes: **Acrimony means bitter, harsh or biting sharpness.  
  
E-mail me any questions! Dun be stingy, R&R si vous plait!


	3. Three: Descry

**Something to Talk About**

by Wolf Girl  
  
_Disclaimer:_ I do not have any sort of ownership over the characters or the premise of Gundam Wing. I do not make any sort of profit off of this story.  
_Warnings:_ AU, Yaoi, minor Relena bastardization, OOC Heero (not stoic enough, please forgive me).  
_AN Warning:_ Unfortunately, my grammar and punctuation usage is a weird mix of American and British styles... Enough said.  
_Pairings:_ 1x2x1, others...  
  
_Italics_ = thought (unless obviously otherwise).

(:::)

**THREE: Descry  
**  
Duo leaned on his locker and glared at the jocks playing around in the hallway. Quatre glanced over at them as well. They were currently shoving each other into lockers in a rough yet playful manner.

"Stupid jocks..." Duo muttered.

"They're not always stupid, Duo. You have to give them a chance," Quatre admonished, standing on tip-toe to get some books from the top part of his locker.

"I'll see it when I believe it..."

Quatre grabbed his books and turned to go to class, but suddenly he was pitched over as someone bowled into him. He sprawled on the floor for a moment, but then was trying to grab his books before they got trampled. He looked up as some of the scattered tomes were lifted off the ground and extended toward him.  
  
"Here you go."  
  
Quatre stared for all he was worth into those green eyes that were twinkling back at him.  
  
"My name is Trowa Barton. Sorry I ran into you like that." The boy ran a hand through the bangs that had gone awry. Quatre found himself able to see only one of the boy's eyes now.  
  
""My name is Quatre. It's okay." Quatre heaved himself to his feet. "No harm done."  
  
"Good. I hope you don't get any bruises. I wouldn't want to mar you." The boy shyly looked at Quatre. "Well, I've got class. See you."  
  
"Okay." Quatre said breathlessly, taking his books from Trowa. The tall boy walked off, and when he could no longer see him, Quatre turned to Duo.  
  
Duo was staring at him. "Quatre! You can't get yourself mixed up with people like that! He's a jock!"  
  
"Well, see you in math class." Quatre said, head in the clouds.

(:::)

"So then they were starting to come closer to me, and they were calling me 'Blondie,' and then Trowa was there and was pulling them away. He told them to leave new students alone, _especially_ me." Quatre waved his arms around.  
  
"Then he was leaning over me against the locker I had backed up into, and he asked if I was alright. I could only stare at him." Quatre mimed a deer- in-the-headlights look.  
  
Duo snorted.  
  
"Then he said I should be more careful. I said that I would. Then he smiled at me!" Quatre's eyes had gone all googly. "The he straightened up and he said, 'See ya around, blondie,' but it was in a nice way, not like the bullies had said it."  
  
Quatre sighed dreamily. "And he stroked my hair before he left!" Quatre finished, playing with his short blonde hair.  
  
Duo was just to start a tirade about jocks when the phone rang. He sprang over to it. "Hello? Hilde! Hey! Whats up?"  
  
Quatre flopped down on Duo's bed. "Who's Hilde?" he asked curiously, staring at a poster on the ceiling.  
  
"A good friend from my old arts school." Duo said, turning his head away from the phone. "Hilders? Oh, that's my new friend Quatre. He's cool. No, he's not straight." Duo tapped his foot on the floor.  
  
"No, Hilde, he's not my boyfriend. He's madly in love with this jock named Trowa. Yeah... Really? What'd he do that for?" Duo leaned on a wall, listening intently to Hilde's latest gossip.  
  
Quatre got up off the bed and started digging around in the piles of papers on Duo's desk, carefully shifting stuff around curiously. He held up a couple sketches that were toward the bottom.  
  
"Yeah, Hilde I know that already..."  
  
"Duo, why do you have a painting of Heero?" Quatre asked, waving a portrait around.  
  
"Be careful with that!" Duo said, quickly taking it from Quatre's hands. "We were friends in middle school." Duo was nearly caressing the painting as he set it upright on a bookshelf. Quatre quirked his eyebrow.  
  
"_And_ I paint... I did this from a picture that Relena had. Relena is _obsessed_ with Heero." Duo grumbled.  
  
"Sounds like _someone_ has a crush!" Quatre quipped.  
  
"I do not like him! He's a jerk! Awww! Hilde, no ganging up on me!" Duo pleaded with the phone, turning toward the window and running a finger across the cheek of the painting.  
  
"Oh, hi _Heero_! Relena's room is down the hallway." Quatre chirped at the open door.  
  
Duo whipped around, almost dropping the phone, but no one was there.  
  
"Just kidding!" Quatre giggled. "I wanted to make sure that you do have a crush on him!"  
  
"You crazy kid! I don't like him!" Duo exclaimed, checking the hallway anyway, then sighing when he found it empty. "There won't be a boring minute with you around!"

(:::)

**End notes:** Descry means to discover by observation; to detect.  
  
E-mail me any questions! R&R si vous plait!


	4. Four: Ineffectual

**Something to Talk About**

By Wolf Girl

_Author notes:_ Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Thanks again to those who I contacted already, and for those of you who didn't sign in to review or didn't have e-mails, thanks to you too.

Introducing, my muse fRuiTdevil! She's agreed to help me out by being conversational! The first part of this chapter is dedicated to her! Thanks fRuiTdevil!

**Hey, most importantly, I figured out belatedly that the way I was separating the scenes in my story was not showing up on the page. I hadn't noticed this until a friend suggested that I separate the scenes, but now I have it all fixed. So, if you had any confusion on scene breaks, you can look back at the updated last three chapters.**

_Disclaimer:_ I do not have any sort of ownership over the characters or the premise of Gundam Wing. I do not make any sort of profit off of this story.

_Warnings:_ AU, Yaoi, minor Relena bastardization, Mild Relena bashing, OOC Heero (not stoic enough, please forgive me), philosophy, much taunting.

_AN Warning:_ Unfortunately, my grammar and punctuation usage is a weird mix of American and British styles... Enough said.

_Pairings:_ 1x2x1, others...

_Italics_ = thought (unless obviously otherwise).

(:::)

**FOUR: Ineffectual**

_Journal Entry #70_

_Life doesn't suck so much today. I'm painting again. The art teacher finally decided that I wasn't like the other punks and wouldn't ruin her paintbrushes using acrylic paint. Thank God! I was about to get the spray paint cans out and do a mural on the school lockers..._

_My English teacher gave me a writing assignment today. I'm supposed to say something profound... _

_I had to think about this one. I usually crack jokes in favour of being serious. I don't say profound things very often. That's Quatre's job as far as I know. Here's my best stab at my only homework for the night. _

_What is profound?_

_Well, you have to say it in a profound manner to make it profound._

(::)

"So if you mix two parts cadmium yellow together with three parts saffron red, you get a nice shade that is perfect for what you're describing. And if you use the palette knife, you can get the texture you want too." Duo explained, sketching on a loose sheet of paper the way you would apply the acrylic to the canvas.

Quatre nodded enthusiastically. "You know more than the art teacher does Duo!"

"Only about painting." Duo chided half-jokingly, handing Quatre the paper.

"Hey kid." A sudden tall shadow loomed over Duo's locker and a male voice filled his ears.

"Hi Trowa!" Quatre practically melted into his locker. "How are you?"

"Fine. What are you doing tonight?" Trowa leaned past Duo to face Quatre.

Duo made a face and continued rummaging in his locker for his math books. _I hate math... Stupid subject... Why does Quatre like this guy anyway... He's a jock... Hey, at least he smells good._

"Nothing." Quatre's eyes widened even more hugely in hopefulness. Trowa ran a hand through his bang and Quatre shifted from foot to foot a few times before Trowa proceeded. Duo stifled a giggle at Quatre's nervous body actions.

"You want to go see a movie with me... and some of the guys?" Trowa asked, his face showing practically no emotion.

Quatre's face fell at the last part of the question, but he was not about to pass up time with Trowa. "Sure! Sounds great!"

"I'll pick you up at seven. No need to bring anything except Mr. Liberal Arts if he wants to go." Trowa smiled slightly.

Quatre was beaming. "Okay, sounds good. You want directions to my house?"

As the two exchanged an address for a phone number, Duo rolled his eyes and left for class.

_No way I'm getting a late for these doveys._

(:::)

The guys passed more beer around and made a loud toast. They slopped their drinks up to their mouths. Duo watched disgustedly, still only halfway through his first glass of the stuff.

_I wonder how I can get my revenge for the locker room incident..._ Duo thought to himself, sipping his beer in unusual silence. Just when he had gotten to the crowning glory of his plot involving marshmallow cream, he was interrupted.

"So, Duo, why _did_ you get kicked out of that school?" a brunette asked drunkenly when there was a suitable pause from the crude commentary the jocks were running on the waitresses legs. It seemed to Duo that they had run out of various dirty jokes to tell.

Duo stared. _Someone actually asked,_ he thought. "Well, after getting too many bad marks in the Dean's book for sneaking around using certain students as nude models, and annoying my teachers by painting murals in the hallways, my own rendition of the school's _Last Judgment _ (1) was not looked on very highly.

"Oh... We thought you like, burned down a girl's dorm or something." The guys lost interest in Duo and started punching each other playfully and swigging more beer.

Duo was surprised. He'd expected a bigger reaction, but what was he expecting from these jocks... _I had thought I'd get away with that too... It's not my fault Une has no sense of humor..._

Trowa and Quatre were sitting in a far corner of the table, whispering to each other and ignoring the other boy's rowdiness completely. Duo was having trouble admitting to himself that he was envious of their infatuation with each other.

"So what's your type, pretty boy? I saw you in the locker room. You're not too bad off for a artsy boy, if you know what I mean." Some blonde goon thought he could drape his arm over Duo's shoulder.

Duo removed the boy's arm distastefully and resumed picking at his spaghetti.

"You're so quiet now. We could fill the silence with something else." The boy moved his hand down to Duo's thigh after taking a sideways glance to make sure his buddies were otherwise occupied.

Duo kept his mouth closed for once, even though he was livid with indignation. He stood up and stalked out the door, knocking over his chair in the process.

(:::)

Duo adjusted his coat collar against the chilled wind, then shoved his hands in his pockets. He ran across the street and started as he saw Relena and Heero turning a corner and walking toward him.

"Hello, Duo," Relena said, and then continued walking.

"You two out on a date?" Duo sneered, his dander already riled up.

"Yes, and we were having a very nice time until you came along," Relena said snippily, pulling on Heero's arm.

Heero's eyes bored a hole in Duo with his intense gaze. Duo started to feel uncomfortable. "Have fun with your pet, though even _you_ could do better."

"You're so stupid, Duo! You don't understand how precious Heero is!" Relena stamped her foot. "Heero, let's go!" Relena huffed, turning, then looked at Heero, who didn't move right away. "Heero!"

Heero stared at her for a second, then he looked back at Duo. Relena glared at Duo, then started walking briskly off.

"I hate her. She's so selfish. Doesn't she care how I feel? I'm her brother!" Duo kicked at the wall roughly.

"She's jealous of you."

"Why would she be jealous of me?" Duo fumed. "She's the one who has all the friends and all the glory. No one even notices my paintings at school!"

"You're talented at many things. She has problems with it."

Duo turned his head away at the comment. "Bitch... Why do you even hang out with her?" He asked scornfully, not really expecting an answer.

"Right now she's all the friend I've got." Heero's voice sounded so sad and matter-of-fact that Duo turned to look.

Heero turned and walked after Relena's distant figure, leaving Duo standing there, all self-pity gone as he realized that maybe he wasn't the only one who felt alone.

(:::)

Heero glared at Relena for what must have been the fourteenth time just during lunch. She can't take a hint, can she? He ignored her chatter and continued eating his lunch solidly. He let the talking from other places in the room drift over.

"I hear he's a whore. I wonder how much he'll take?" someone was whispering. Heero straightened up even more than his usual rigid posture and glanced around.

"I think that blonde Quatre Winner is paying him to be exclusive. The Winners are a rich family. I'm sure we couldn't even begin to match Blondie's pay," another voice whispered back. Heero finally pinpointed the voices. There were two boys sitting in a corner with chairs drawn together, hunched over their lunch trays.

"Too bad though, did you see him? Perfectly gorgeous." Heero let his attention fade as their conversation drifted off to other things.

Relena finished talking and looked at Heero expectantly. He grunted belatedly, and she seemed satisfied with his non-answer. She turned to another person at her table and started chatting. Heero stood up. Relena glanced at him.

He made a concerted effort to explain his departure. "I'm going to go practice basketball." He then left for the gym. Relena stared at him in confusion as he left. _He doesn't play basketball,_ she thought, then turned back to her conversation.

The gym was silent. Heero got a basketball from the rack and started shooting from the half-court line. The fourth time he made it, a small clapping sound was heard. He looked behind him and spotted Duo in the bleachers.

"Bravo, bravo!"

"Duo," he acknowledged. Duo walked down from the bleachers, stopping to stand on the sidelines of the court.

"Hello, Mighty King of sports," Duo replied. "Is there anything you can't do?"

"You can't do better, scrawny."

"You insult me." Duo maintained an air of levity. "Dumb jock."

Heero snorted, his eyes tracking Duo as he stalked closer.

"What if I wanted to play?" Duo taunted. "Would it compromise your manliness if I beat you?"

Heero didn't reply, just stared.

"Bet you couldn't take me on," Duo challenged.

"One-on-one. First to ten." Heero said, tossing the ball to Duo. Duo tossed it back, accepting the challenge.

Heero dribbled the ball at the basket, Duo in a defense position in front of him, half-crouched, looking like a wary tiger. Heero's eyes darted to the braid caressing Duo's thighs as it draped over his shoulder.

"I bet you thought that joke in the locker room was funny," Duo said snidely, making a grab at the ball. Heero dribbled the ball and made a feint to the right. He didn't reply.

"And you're getting awful cozy with Relena, aren't you 'Hee-chan'," Duo purred. Heero growled and pushed to the left, driving for the basket. He did a lay-up and sunk it.

"You're such a dick." Duo checked the ball and started toward the basket. "You better not be screwing my sister. I don't care if she's a bitch, if you nail her you're going to regret it."

"I don't screw girls." Heero said, then looked horrified for a moment before his expressionless mask slipped back into place. He looked at Duo, who had stopped smiling.

"Who do you screw then, Hee-chan? Boys? Pretty boys like me?" Duo's eyes were glinting maliciously as he stalked over to Heero. He licked his lips as he stopped less than an inch away.

"Does this invade your 'space bubble' too much, 'Hee-chan' or do I turn you on? Do you want me?" He leaned in and let his fingers drift along Heero's neck and shoulders then down across his chest. Heero shuddered involuntarily. "Maybe some other time." Duo passed by Heero, shoving the basketball roughly into his hands. He left the gym out the side door.

Heero stood breathing heavily, then chucked the ball at the wall with a reverberating bang. The ball bounced on the floor as the door closed.

(:::)

**Endnotes:** Ineffectual means not producing the proper effect; without effect; weak; useless; futile; unavailing.

**(1) ****Last Judgment was a painting done in the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo Burronati. This painting is approximately 5,600 square feet and covers the back wall of the chapel.**

**It's a painting about how people measure up when they go to see Christ after they die. This painting was originally done with almost all the people in the nude and in varying degrees of punishment, showing Purgatory and Hell.**

**During the Inquisition run by the Papacy of the Catholic Church, another artist was hired to put clothing or draperies over the nude bodies to cover their 'indecency.**

**It is said that Michelangelo put himself in the painting as St. Bartholomew, and that he put a Catholic Cardinal he disliked in hell being carried off by the dead resurrected**.

If you like J-Rock, check out L'Arc en Ciel's new album _Smile._ I just got it and it rocks bobby socks! It has some nice songs to space out to... I mean.... write to... Anyway, _Smile_ is available in the US through Sony music and Tofu Records, and in Japan I _think_ through Sony Music as well!

So you all don't think I got attacked by rabid 1xR loving fangirls, I am going on vacation the first week of August and will not have internet access, so don't expect another chapter until at least the second week of August.

E-mail me any questions! R&R si vous plait!


	5. Five: Diaphanousness

**

* * *

Something to Talk About  
**By Wolf Girl 

_Disclaimer:_ I do not have any sort of ownership over the characters or the premise of Gundam Wing. I do not make any sort of profit off of this story.  
_Warnings:_ AU, Yaoi, minor Relena bastardization, OOC Heero (not stoic enough, please forgive me).  
_AN Warning:_ Unfortunately, my grammar and punctuation usage is a weird mix of American and British styles... Enough said.  
_Pairings:_ 1x2x1, others...  
_Italics_ = thought (unless obviously otherwise.)  
AN: I can't get the stupid parts to separate, so I'm using the separator thing...

* * *

**FIVE: Diaphanousness**

Duo glanced from his pallette to the canvas once more, then lifted his brush to put a fine detail in. He considered if for a moment more. When his brush had almost reached the painting a loud squeal echoed from the room down the hall.

"Oh my god! Really? I can't believe it! I can't wait!!"

Duo flinched as his hand jerked, splattering paint all over his clothing and desk, but luckily not onto the painting. He sighed greatfully. After a moment, Duo also silently thanked his lucky stars that he had worn old clothing while working with oil paints.

The door to his room burst open. Relena stood there, her eyes glinting madly. "There's going to be a dance," she stated in a news-bearing manner.

"Oh wow... _How_ exciting," Duo drawled sarcastically.

"And," Relena continued, giving Duo a dirty look for having ruined her speech. "I have it from the highest authority that Treize Kushrenada is going to ask you to go with him!" Relena cooed and pinched one of Duo's cheeks. "My baby brother is growing up!"

Duo looked at her with suspicion. "Why are you excited for me?"

"Because, I am going to go with Heero," she said triumphantly.

Duo felt an odd twinge at her words. He didn't care, after all, if Heero did anything at all with anyone, particularly his sister. Of course he didn't.

Duo frowned as Relena gushed on and on about the dress she was buying, how she was going to do her hair. Then she started describing how she was going to do Duo's hair and makeup, because, of course, he'd be going with Treize.

This looked bad...

* * *

"A rum and coke, sweetheart," Duo told the server who came over to his table. He batted his eyelids a little. The woman blushed and hurried off to get his order. _He's not bad looking,_ he thought, staring at a guy at the bar-counter.

"Well, that's all from us tonight, folks, but if you hang around there's a cool cat coming to play some jazz and blues tunes on the piano, written by the cool cat himself." The trumpet player from the band on stage announced.

The band got up and took all their equiptment down. A small buzz of talking started throughout the club.

_Man, I missed the band. I wonder who this other guy is. He sure wasn't on the sign outside the door. _Duo thought. _Well, I'll stay for a little while anyway._

The server came back with his drink, setting it down. "If you haven't heard this guy, you're in for a treat. He calls himself 01 (AN: zero-one), and he's a musician if I ever saw any." The woman sighed dreamily. "He's a cool cat alright," she said, then went to another table.

Duo stared as none other than Heero Yuy came onstage and started to play on the piano. It was a real jazzy song, but not one Duo was familiar with. Heero finished playing and the club errupted into loud applause.

Duo downed his drink nervously and hailed to server to order another one. _Why here??_

Heero started playing again, his eyes closed and his feet tapping and hitting the pedals like mad. His fingers flew across the keyboard, and his hair flopped every-which-way as his head kept the beat. His jazz sounded real sweet to the ear and picked at a heartstring of each listener.

Heero looked up as the people started clapping for him, his eyes sweeping the club. They rested on Duo. He got down of the stage and walked over to Duo's table.

"Hey," Duo said, motioning to the empty chair across from him when it became obvious Heero wanted to sit down. "I never took you for a jazz musician, but you're pretty good." _More than pretty good, but I can't tell you that... _

"I didn't know you came to places like this." _I didn't expect to see anyone I knew here..._

"Only sometimes." Duo said softly. "When I'm in the right mood." _When I'm down enough to listen to blues and jazz music..._

They sat in silence for a moment, Duo sipping his drink and Heero staring off at nothing through his bangs. "I thought you stopped playing the piano," Duo commented, "Back when... we were younger." _When we stopped being friends..._

"I did. I started again recently because I was reminded of when... I used to play." _Very recently in fact..._

"Oh." Duo swirled the ice in his cup around. He finally decided to ask the question he'd been avoiding. "So, um, are you really taking Relena to the dance?" _Please say no, please say no... But why do I care who he's going with..._

"I've got to go now. My break's over." Heero stood up and walked over to the stage again. He talked to some people who came up to him for a while, then he adjusted himself on the seat before starting to play a second set. This time he played the blues.

Duo listened for a minute, then got up and left the club while Heero was accepting his applause. Heero looked happy for once.

* * *

****

****

**End notes:** Diaphanousness means the quality or letting light through; translucent or transparent.

I had trouble reading one part of my notes because I was too lazy to turn on my lamp, wrote in the dark, and as a result there are three lines written one on top of the other... So I think that was what I meant... But um anyway, that is the brilliance that is me...

Sorry this chapter is so short, but I'll be putting another longer one soon.

E-mail me any questions! R&R si vous plait!!


	6. Six: Lambent

**Something to Talk About  
**By Wolf Girl

_Disclaimer:_ I do not have any sort of ownership over the characters or the premise of Gundam Wing. I do not make any sort of profit off of this story.  
_Warnings:_ AU, Yaoi, minor Relena bastardization, OOC Heero (not stoic enough, please forgive me).  
_AN Warning:_ Unfortunately, my grammar and punctuation usage is a weird mix of American and British styles... Enough said.  
_Pairings:_ 1x2x1, others...  
_Italics_ = thought (unless obviously otherwise.)

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed lately! I like to get feedback, it makes me feel good…

* * *

**SIX: Lambent**

"Hey Q, can't talk now, I'm in a rush. _He's _on his way, and look there's Trowa, so you won't even miss me!" Duo babbled, trying to hurry past Quatre in the hallway.

Quatre grabbed Duo's sleeve. "Why are you avoiding him?"

"I'm not! I'm not avoiding anybody! Why would you think that?" Duo said, stopping and trying to look innocent. "Hey, by the way, has Trowa asked you to the dance yet?"

"Yes he has.... He was so sweet about it too. Hey! Don't change the subject! Why are you avoiding him?"

"I'm not. There's only been a change of events that makes me feel like rushing to classes to-- to-- get more work done."

"Duo..."

"Quatre, trust me, nothing is wrong. Hey! Gotta go now. Bye!"

"When you feel like telling me, I'll be in class. Don't bother to talk to me until then." Quatre walked off in a huff to his next class.

Duo rushed over to his locker and began loading his arms and backpack up with books.

A dark shape loomed over Duo's locker. Duo looked up, startled, and saw Treize leaning against the locker next to his.

"Hi..." Duo said, still trying to get all his stuff into his backpack.

"Hey."

"What do you want?" Duo asked impatiently.

"Do you have a date to the dance?" Treize asked casually.

"No..." Duo sighed, knowing what was next.

"Do you want to go with me?" Treize asked after a moment.

"Um... Look, I wasn't really planning on going to the dance," Duo started, then noticed Heero surreptitiously glancing their way from his locker. "But I might go.... So, um... Maybe I'll go."

"Maybe you'll go? Maybe you'll go with me?" Treize asked, unsure if he was being turned down or not.

"Yeah, maybe I'll go with you. Well, gotta go now... Class and all..." Duo ducked away, shutting his locker firmly, leaving Treize standing there with a confused look on his face.

"Maybe he'll go with me... What the hell does that mean?!"

* * *

Duo was broken out of his loud music by an even louder screech. "DUO! GET THE DOOR!!!" Relena screamed from the bathroom.

Duo grumbled to himself and hauled himself off his bed. He didn't bother to pull up his tiny cutoff shorts, which were slightly large and were falling off one hipbone, or to put on his shirt, which he'd discarded in the heat of the day.

He yanked the front door open, only to be greeted by one Heero Yuy. Heero Yuy, the person Duo did not want to talk to or see ever again.

Duo turned around and walked away, leaving the door open behind him. "She'll be here in a minute."

He wandered into the kitchen, annoyed when Heero followed him in and sat down on a chair.

"Want something to drink?" Duo asked, forcing himself to be civil to his sister's guest.

"No."

Duo shrugged and grabbed a soda from the back of the bottom shelf of the fridge. Heero watched intently as Duo's shorts rose even higher in the back when he bent over, displaying the bottom part of his ass. The curves drew the eye upward but hope diminished when the shorts finally did start to provide some cover.

Duo turned around impatiently. "Want me to go get her?" Please God, just don't leave him in here with me.

"She'll come," Heero said, then went back to staring at Duo. After a few minutes of silence, Heero asked, "Why are you being nice to me?"

Duo was relieved that Heero had stopping staring at him in such a wolf-like fashion.  
"I'm only being nice to you because of my sister." Duo shot out, leaning forward tauntingly. His braid fell over his shoulder in a long rope, its end caressing Duo's milky skin. "I have no reason of my own to be nice to you anymore."

"..." Heero had to think about that one for a moment. Duo gulped down his glass of water and put his cup in the sink. Then he went back to leaning on the counter.

Heero stood up and walked closer to Duo. Duo took a step back and Heero followed him. Duo's mocking look faded into fear as Heero backed him into the kitchen counter. "I want you to be nice." _You can be very nice..._

Duo could feel Heero's legs and hardness pressed against his body. Heero leaned Duo backwards over the counter, an arm resting on either side of Duo.

"Be careful who you tease," Heero all but purred, leaning forward and catching Duo's lips in a fierce openmouthed kiss, reveling in their softness.

Duo moaned. His body melted into Heero's. A traitorous hand worked its way into the tousled locks as Heero thrust his tongue into Duo's mouth. His hand ghosted down to Duo's butt as he caressed the insides of Duo's mouth gently, worshiping him.

A door slammed, and feet were heard descending a staircase. Heero broke the kiss and straightened up. Relena hustled into the kitchen wearing a dress about three sizes too small in an ungodly shade of pink.

If she noticed a very flushed Duo leaning panting on the counter, she didn't comment on it.

"Ready, Hee-chan?" Relena squealed. "The others must be waiting." Heero allowed Relena to take his arm and the left the kitchen.

Duo waited until he heard the front door close. _Oh shit,_ he thought, trying to recover.

Not five minutes later, the doorbell rang again. Duo answered it hesitantly, almost afraid to see what was behind the door.

Treize stood on the other side, dressed in a suit. He was carrying roses in his hand. His gaze swept Duo over, his eyes lingering on Duo's bare chest and shorts.

"I know that you hadn't _planned_ on going, but I thought that... you might be willing to go to the dance anyway..." Treize's hand swept a stray hair from Duo's face.

Duo had a thought. "I _will_ go get ready. You just wait for a couple minutes and I'll be ready in a jiffy." He fluttered his eyelashes charmingly.

Treize stood in the hallway, looking at the somewhat odd painting that he thought was maybe supposed to be two nudes dancing, but then it could have been a horse as well. Just when he had finally lost interest in telling what it was supposed to be, he heard a noise on the stairs.

Duo was stepping down the stairs in somewhat unconventional clothes for male going to a dance, yet clothes that would not be out of place on a female. He had twisted his braid up into a neat bun, and had just a touch of eyeliner. His deep purple sleeveless shirt fit his form nicely and went well with the tight black pants he had on. A black ribbon around his neck completed the outfit and drew Treize's eye to his long neck.

Treize caught his breath. Duo looked feminine, but was able to pull off the outfit and still keep a touch of masculinity. Duo cleared his throat as Treize failed to say anything. Treize recovered and offered Duo the roses he carried.

"Thank you very much," Duo purred. He took them and set them in an empty ornamental vase in the hallway. He pulled on a leather jacket. "Let's get going."

Treize opened the door for Duo to climb into his convertable lamborghini then shut it behind him in a very gentlemanly fashion.

Treize climbed in on the other side of the car and started it. He pulled away from the curb, then started down the street, shifting into first, then second, then third...

Duo felt the wind sweeping through his hair as he and Treize drove to the dance in Treize's convertible.

**

* * *

**

**End notes:** Lambent means playing on the surface; touching lightly; gliding over.

I have the next chapter almost finished, but I won't be updating for another week or so. School is starting on Tuesday for me so I'll be kinda busy for a while… That means maybe less frequent updates, but I have the rest of the story pretty much written so no worries!!!

E-mail me any questions! R&R si vous plait! Reviews are very welcome!!


	7. Seven: Sardonic

**Something to Talk About  
**By Wolf Girl

Disclaimer: I do not have any sort of ownership over the characters or the premise of Gundam Wing. I do not make any sort of profit off of this story. I don't own the songs, I Can't Make You Love Me, Overjoyed, and You Send Me. They belong to their respective writers(1).

Warnings: AU, Yaoi, minor Relena bastardization, OOC Heero (not stoic enough, please forgive me).

AN Warning: Unfortunately, my grammar and punctuation usage is a weird mix of American and British styles... Enough said.

Pairings: 1x2x1, others...

_Italics_ thought (unless obviously otherwise.)

* * *

**SEVEN: Sardonic**

Treize swatted at a balloon that threatened to hit Duo as they walked into the gym. The ugly bleachers had been put up and in their place were multitudes of streamers, balloons and banners hanging with sayings such as "You know when it rains it rains pennies from heaven," and "There is no moon above when love is far away too."(1)

There were many people dancing and just as many hanging around. Duo smirked to find that Relena was one of them. Heero was nowhere to be seen—oh wait, he was over at a table looking his way.

**Darling you send me  
****I know you send me  
****Darling you send me  
****Honest you do, honest you do  
****Honest you do, whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh**

Treize got Duo's attention and pulled him onto the dance floor. Duo promptly wrapped himself around Treize and they started to slow dance in a sensual manner, quickly drawing attention from all the other couples.

Relena trotted up. "May I cut in?"

Treize cocked an eyebrow. "Isn't that the man's job?"

"Can't I dance with my big brother?" Relena simpered. Duo stared at her like she had grown four extra heads. Treize shrugged and gave Duo's hand a quick squeeze before letting Relena cut in.

**You thrill me  
****I know you, you, you thrill me  
****Darling you, you, you, you thrill me  
****Honest you do  
****  
At first I thought it was infatuation  
****But oh, it's lasted so long  
****Now I find myself wanting  
****To marry you and take you home  
****Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh**

"I thought you weren't going." Relena said. "I would have done your hair for you... You know, curled it and left it loose."

"I don't let my hair down." Duo growled.

"Oh well, you pulled off the androgynous look very well anyway." Relena barbed. "Almost too feminine if you ask me."

**You, you, you, you send me  
****I know you send me  
****I know you send me  
****Honest you do**

**Whoa-oh-oh, whenever I'm with you  
****I know, I know, I know when I'm near you  
****Mmm hmm, mmm hmm, honest you do, honest you do  
****Whoa-oh-oh, I know-oh-oh-oh**

"So where's your date, princess? I thought he was _so_ excited to go with you." Duo drawled as they did a polite slow dance, positioned as though doing the three-step waltz.

"He wanted to sit down for awhile. We already danced all the fast songs." Relena said snippily.

"I somehow doubt that. But it seems to me he is more interested in dancing with his chair than with you."

**I know, I know, I know, when you hold me  
****Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh, whenever you kiss me  
****Mmm hmm, mmm hmm, honest you do**

**At first I thought it was infatuation  
****But woo, it's lasted so long  
****Now I find myself wanting  
****To marry you and take you home**

**I know, I know, I know, you send me  
****I know you send me  
****Whoa-oh-oh-oh, you you you you send me  
****Honest you do**

"Duo, don't you dare do anything to him tonight. I can't stand the way you make fun of him all the time." Relena glared her fiercest kittenish glare.

Duo grinned evilly. "And what would you do if I did mess with his head, as you seem to think I'm doing? It seems to me he is messing with my head, coming on to me and all."

"Don't you dare lay a finger on him or I'll—I'll tell Father about um.. your gay porn stash!" Relena said triumphantly.

"Have you been smoking something? I don't have gay porn. You, on the other hand could stand to watch some. How about some starring Heero and say, Treize? You'd like that with your fascination with him!"

"HEERO ISN'T GAY!" Relena screeched, turning a few heads.

The song ended and Relena stomped off to the restroom. Duo started to leave the dance floor and was suddenly waylaid by a strong hand on his shoulder.

**Turn down the lights  
****Turn down the bed  
****Turn down these voices  
****inside my head**

"Will you dance with me?" Heero asked, extending a hand to Duo.

Duo hesitated. Heero stood impassively, his hand still outstretched. Relena came back out of the restroom, looking less embarrassed now that the scene she had caused was over. She saw Heero near him and her eyes bugged out. She stomped back into the bathroom, obviously not wanting to cause another disruption.

**Lay down with me  
****Tell me no lies  
****Just hold me close  
****Don't patronize  
****Don't patronize me**

"Alright." Duo said, letting Heero draw him out onto the dance floor. He looked around anxiously at the other couples slow dancing around them.

Heero put a hand on his waist and took his other hand, so they were in the more formal slow dancing position. While the distance comforted Duo, it also perturbed him slightly.

_What is it about you that bothers me so much?_

**Cause I can't make you love me  
****if you don't  
****You can't make your heart feel  
****something it won't**

As they continued dancing Heero just politely lead him across the dance floor. Duo felt uncomfortable dancing in such far proximity. Heero made no sign of coming any closer. After a few seconds, Duo sighed and drew Heero closer. "I can't dance like that." Heero stiffened for a moment, then relaxed and wrapped his arms around Duo's waist.

**Here in the dark  
****in these final hours  
****I will lay down my heart  
****And I'll feel the power  
****but you won't  
****No, you won't  
****Cause I can't make you love me  
****if you don't**

Duo blinked as he heard Heero singing along softly to the song in his deep nasally voice.

**I'll close my eyes  
****then I won't see  
****the love you don't feel  
****when you're holding me**

Heero stared Duo in the eyes and gave him a small, sad smile. He raised a hand and caressed Duo's cheek gently, then dropped his arm back down.

_No, it isn't like that... It can't be like that! _Duo froze, looking at Heero intently. _I don't understand. Don't do this to me._

Heero leaned closer, drawing Duo flush against him, leaning his head against Duo's shoulder. Duo slumped slightly and stopped dancing.

"Duo."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Why should a man whose blood is warm within sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster? Sleep when he wakes?(2)" Heero quoted, starting to move again.

**Morning will come  
****and I'll do what's right  
****just give me till then  
****to give up this fight  
****and I will give up this fight**

Duo wrested himself from Heero's embrace and ran out of the back door of the gym. Heero stopped dancing, then stalked out the front door into the school hallway, angrily throwing to the ground the flower pinned to his lapel as he left.

**Cause I can't make you love me  
****if you don't  
****You can't make your heart feel  
****something it won't**

**Here in the dark  
****in these final hours  
****I will lay down my heart  
****And I'll feel the power**

Sitting at a table, Treize realized that it was his date that had left and he hurried out the back door after Duo.

Relena meanwhile had come back into the room and was looking around frantically, unable to find any traces of either Heero or Duo.

She turned bright red and started sputtering, her temper rising. Her best friend Dorothy rushed over to her and tried to explain in a soothing voice that Heero and Duo hadn't left with each other, they had just both left. It didn't convince Relena one bit.

**But you won't  
****No, you won't  
****Cause I can't make you love me  
****if you don't**

Quatre stared at the door. "Trowa, I'm worried."

"It's okay. Treize will find him. Despite how he acts sometimes, Treize can be a nice guy." Trowa nuzzled Quatre's neck gently, clasping his waist to him tightly. "Dance with me, love."

Quatre blushed and settled back into Trowa. "I just think Treize isn't who Duo wants to comfort him..."

* * *

Over time, I've been building my castle of love

Just for two, though you never knew you were my reason

I've gone much too far for you now to say

That I've got to throw my castle away

**Over dreams, I have picked out a perfect come true  
****Though you never knew it was of you I've been dreaming  
****The sandman has come from too far away  
****For you to say come back some other day**

Duo could hear strains of the song drifting from the gym. He sighed as a cold wind whipped under the bleachers.

**And though you don't believe that they do  
****They do come true  
****For did my dreams  
****Come true when I looked at you  
****And maybe too, if you would believe  
****You too might be  
****Overjoyed, over loved, over me**

Duo sneezed once, then wrapped his jacket tighter around himself. The music was too true for his taste. He tried to block out the sound of it.

_Why do things always have to be complicated? Things never go my way. Things are always good for Relena and Heero... Quatre and Trowa... They're happy...And if I do get someone, it isn't going to work... I'm only happy by myself..._

**Over hearts, I have painfully turned every stone  
****Just to find, I had found what I've searched to discover  
****I've come much to far for me now to find  
****The love that I've sought can never be mine**

Duo didn't look up as he heard someone approach. Treize bent over to look under the bleachers next to the soccer field. Finding Duo, Treize crouched down to Duo's level. "What's wrong?"

Duo only sniffed.

**And though you don't believe that they do  
****They do come true  
****For did my dreams  
****Come true when I looked at you  
****And maybe too, if you would believe  
****You too might be  
****Overjoyed, over loved, over me**

"Come on, I'll take you home," Treize sighed, helping Duo to his feet. He wrapped an arm around Duo's shoulders and led him to the car.

**And though the odds say improbable  
****What do they know  
****For in romance  
****All true love needs is a chance  
****And maybe with a chance you will find  
****You too like I  
****Overjoyed, over loved, over you , over you

* * *

**

**End notes:** Sardonic means derisive; mocking; scornful or bitterly sarcastic.

(1) "_You know when it rains it rains pennies from heaven," _is from the song _Pennies from Heaven._  
_"There is no moon above when love is far away too,"_ is from the song _How High the Moon_.

_(2)Why should a man whose blood is warm within  
__sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster?  
__Sleep when he wakes?...  
_Shakespeare, _Merchant of Venice_, Lines 87-90

_(3)You Send Me_ is written and sung originally by Sam Coke, but Nicolette Larson does the version of this song I like best.  
_Can't Make You Love Me_ is sung by Bonnie Rait, and it's a wonderful song.  
_Overjoyed_ is written and sung originally by Stevie Wonder and is gorgeous as is  
all his stuff. There is also a nice jazz version I recommend sung by Nnena Freidman.

E-mail me any questions! R&R si vous plait!


	8. Eight: Nefarious

**Something to Talk About  
**By Wolf Girl

_Disclaimer:_ I do not have any sort of ownership over the characters or the premise of Gundam Wing. I do not make any sort of profit off of this story.

_Warnings:_ AU, Yaoi, minor Relena bastardization, OOC Heero (not stoic enough, please forgive me).

_AN Warning:_ Unfortunately, my grammar and punctuation usage is a weird mix of American and British styles... Enough said.

_Pairings:_ 1x2x1, others...

_Italics_ thought (unless obviously otherwise.)

* * *

**EIGHT: Nefarious**

_Journal Entry #84_

_While my mind wanders to places I never wanted it to go, my body encourages fantasies of a more extreme nature._

_I tried to get back at him but I only hurt myself. How could I have not seen? If he's playing... my heart aches already._

_Journal Entry #87_

_I did a quick watercolour today. I called it 'A Midsummer Night's Feast'. It shows the buffet and fantasy selections of a high school's populus. It also has the side of the Oberon or the unfortunate lover. I portrayed Hermia as myself, since that is how it seems to be lately._

Relena barged into his room. "You're going to hate this. I would die to stay, but I won't argue with Mother."

"What are you talking about?" Duo asked his sister as she flounced off.

"Duo! Come here for a moment." His mother called. Duo walked over slowly. "Duo, while we are gone, that nice boy Heero Yuy is going to stay here with you."

"What?! You can't leave me here with him! He's—" _sexy, _"He's—" d_angerous,_ "He's boring!" Duo protested, stomping his foot like any five-year old. His mother looked confused.

"Yes, dear, but he's your neighbor, and he's a lot more responsible than you are. I don't think it would be good for you to stay home by yourself for five days."

"No! I'll go stay at Quatre's or something!"

"Duo don't argue with your mother. We can't leave the house empty for that long. Relena is going to Dorothy's and Heero Yuy is going to stay here with you while we are gone, and that is final. "His father said. Duo opened his mouth to protest, then shut it, looking from one parent to the other. Seeing their minds were made up, Duo stormed out up to his room, slamming the door behind him.

An hour or so later he heard the sounds of suitcases being pulled across the hardwood floors. "Bye, honey! Have fun! We'll be back on Thursday!" His mother called as she shut the front door.

Duo peeked out of his room. There was no one there. He crept over to the living room, then stopped dead in his tracks. Heero Yuy sat on the sofa typing on his computer.

Duo stood and glared at Heero, who looked back unperturbed. "Your room is next door to mine." Duo said coldly.

"I know."

"You aren't allowed in my room."

"Hn."

"I don't want you to touch my stuff at all."

"Hn."

"And I don't want you within ten feet of me, you hear?" Duo asked, his voice rising, furious that Heero wasn't even hardly responding.

"Fine. I'm trying to do homework," Heero said, then went back to typing.

Duo's mouth opened, then shut, then he turned and flounced out of the room, purposefully stomping up the stairs and slamming the door to his room.

* * *

Quatre sat on Duo's bed, looking over his drawings and paintings. "I think this one is nice."

"You would... That's probably the worst piece in there. My composition sucked." Duo growled, glancing toward the door. "Why do I have to put together a portfolio for school anyway? I already made my college one, and I can't include anything in it!"

"Well, we only got one piece out of this stack. You turned down all the rest." Quatre frowned and turned a sketch sideways, then upside-down. "What is this anyway?"

Duo grabbed it and glanced. "Oh, it's a nude of some woman." He tossed it back onto the bed.

Quatre sqeaked. "A woman? You painted a woman nude?"

"It's not like I was interested. As soon as you tell them you're gay, the clothes come off so much easier." Duo shrugged. "That's how I get most of my figure drawing practice."He picked up a picture from a stack on his desk, then quickly shuffled it back in. He slowly put the drawings into his desk drawer, hoping that Quatre wouldn't notice...

"Duo, why are you hiding those ones from me? Give them here." Quatre put his hands out. Duo cringed and handed Quatre all of the pile save one.

"Duo..." Quatre took the picture gently and put it back at the bottom of the stack. "Duo... these are wonderful! These hands... and—Duo! These are all of Heero!"

Duo blushed heavily and tried to take the bottom picture away again. Quatre moved back, quickly flipping through the stack of sketches.

"Duo these are beautiful! Why don't you put them into your folder?"

"I don't want it to seem like I have an obsession with Heero. The teacher would get wierded out."

Quatre reached the last piece and gasped. "Heero... It's... Heero..." His mouth opened but nothing came out of it. His wide eyes stared at the drawing.

There was a knock on the door. Duo opened it, glad for the distraction. Quatre made a choking noise. "Heero..."

"Quatre, your sister is on the phone. She wants to know if you will be home for dinner."

"Heero... I... Um..." Quatre's face continued to grow redder as he looked between the drawing and Heero. He stood up, and started to leave the room. Duo snatched the sketch from his hand before he could leave the room with it.

"Tell Iria you can stay the night," Duo called after the blonde boy who was bright red all over if his ears, neck and face were anything to go by. Duo clutched the paper to his chest.

"What's that?" Heero asked, his eyes fixed on the paper.

"Nothing... Just a stupid drawing. You wouldn't care about it." Duo said quickly.

Heero's eyes remained fixed on it for a moment before looking up to Duo's slightly painfully cheery grin. "Hn... Let me..." He reached a hand out and tugged on the paper.

"HEERRROOO!!! DUOO!! I'm here!! I forgot my Gucci dress!!!" a girlish voice yelled. Heero jerked as if he had been shot, and he bolted to the spare room.

Duo heard the door to the spare room lock. _I've never been so happy to see my sister in my entire life..._

**End notes:** Nefarious means wicked in the extreme; atrociously villainous.

This is a second post in just a short while to make up for the long interval. I don't know when the next chapter will be out, but hopefully in the next week.

Please e-mail me any questions, I hate to confuse my readers! R&R si vous plait!

Thanks to all of those who have reviewed that I haven't had a chance to e-mail, or that don't have an e-mail address available! I'm solidly encouraged by your feedback!


	9. Nine: Oneiric

**Something to Talk About**  
By Wolf Girl

_Disclaimer:_ I do not have any sort of ownership over the characters or the premise of Gundam Wing. I do not make any sort of profit off of this story.  
_Warnings:_ AU, Yaoi, minor Relena bastardization, OOC Heero (not stoic enough, please forgive me).  
_AN Warning:_ Unfortunately, my grammar and punctuation usage is a weird mix of American and British styles... Enough said.  
_Pairings:_ 1x2x1, others...

_Italics_ thought (unless obviously otherwise.)

* * *

**NINE: Oneiric **

Duo searched through the pile of papers in his locker trying to find his homework assignment. "Where is it?"

"Duo, you should take better care of your homework," Quatre admonished.

"I've been so distracted with that _boy _living in my house." Duo's eyes narrowed as the subject of his distaste went over to his own locker and opened it up.

"Maybe you should try to be nice to him. He _is_ living at your house." Quatre suggested.

"Yeah right." Duo snorted and glanced over at Heero. Duo looked back at Quatre, who stared impassively at him, eyes large and pleading.

"Hey Heero!" Duo called, waving enthusiastically.

Heero turned his head to look for where his name came from, then turned back to his locker with a loud "Hn."

"Yeah right... He'll be social the day _I_ wear a pink tutu and parade around the school in that and only that." Duo flipped his braid over his shoulder.

"Maybe he just doesn't know how to open up," muttered a disgruntled blonde.

"HEEROOO!!" A loud voice called. "HEEROOO!! Wait for me!!!"

Heero jumped about a foot in the air. Duo and Quatre stared as he slammed his locker door and all but ran down the hallway.

"HEEROO!!!" WAIT!!!" The voice called, getting inhumanely loud as Relena came closer to them, her run resembling a herd of pink horses stampeding. Duo and Quatre stared after her as she disappeared around a corner.

"Hey Quatre," Someone said, brushing a hand across Quatre's back as he walked by. Quatre turned bright pink and stared after the tall banged boy.

"Hi!" he said.

"Sounds like you like him!" Duo crowed loudly.

"Shhh! He'll hear you!" Quatre poked Duo in the ribs. Duo doubled over, laughing insanely.

"No fair going for the weak spots!" Duo gasped out between breaths as Quatre continued to tickle him.

The bell rang. "Shit! We have to get to the other side of the building!' Duo grabbed Quatre's hand and started running.

* * *

Duo rubbed his eyes sleepily as he heard the chords of the piano drift into his room. He wandered downstairs. He watched Heero play for awhile. "Why don't you play, Heero?"

"I don't have anyone to play for anymore..." Heero launched into a jazzy tune that Duo knew well, and successfully changed the mood as Duo started to sing the words.

_"Usin' the phone booth,  
Makin' a few calls,  
Doodlin' weird things,  
Usin' the booth walls.  
  
"Got me a big date,  
Waitin' for my chick,  
Puttin' my face on,  
So she could look slick,  
  
"I enjoy procrastinating  
'Cause I'm busy while I'm waiting,  
Doodlin' away, doodlin away..."_

Duo sang along to the song, tapping his foot and dancing around a little. Heero smiled secretly to himself.  
  
_"Sittin' and dinin' ((dining))  
Dinner beginnin',  
Started designin'  
Usin' the linen,  
  
"Talkin' to my date,  
Doodlin' my bit,  
Waiter got salty,  
Told me to please quit  
Told the waiter, "Don't be dizzy,  
"Can't you see I'm very busy,  
"Doodlin' away, doodlin' away." "

* * *

_

"And finally, Mr. Maxwell, please hand in the portfolio I asked you to submit of your work from before you were in my class," the teacher said, and everyone looked over at Duo expectantly.

Duo picked up the stack of papers on his desk and promptly went pale as Quatre stood up too. He froze in the act of standing up and stood there, unbelieving of what was about to happen.

"Here is his stuff. He accidentally left it with me." Quatre handed the teacher a blue portfolio. She looked at Duo curiously, perhaps thinking it odd that he had left his sketches in the possession of another. The person sitting next to him looked over worriedly as Duo turned cherry red and made a few unusual noises deep in his throat.

"I hadn't been aware you were acquainted with Mr. Yuy." She flipped another sketch. "You have to get him to model for us sometime..." She got to the last one. "Oh my... Um... Class is dismissed, Mr. Maxwell, come up to my desk."

Duo stiffened and turned bright red. He looked over at Quatre and glared his best at him. "Why did you put that painting in?!" he hissed. "Are you trying to kill my reputation?"

Quatre ignored him and hustled out the door. "Traitor!" Duo called after. The teacher cleared her throat.

"Mr. Maxwell... There is a classical-style art show, unrelated to school, quite obviously, which I would like you to enter this piece in." The teacher looked down through her glasses. "I will not mention this to the Principle or your parents unless you want me to." She grinned calculatingly.

"Um.. No, that would be nice, thank you. I um... I'll put it in the show." Duo stammered, still a brilliant cherry red.

"You have a nice eye for beauty, Mr. Maxwell. That is all. I will keep the picture here until we send it over to the show."

Duo opened and closed his mouth a few times, but knew when he was beat. He stalked out over to the door of the classroom.

"Oh, and Mr. Maxwell, maybe you would like to inform Mr. Yuy about this before he finds out on his own?"

* * *

Duo hesitated before knocking on the door. He finally knocked, just once.

"Hn." Heero's voice said after a moment. Duo assumed that meant he could enter. He opened the door and sidled into the room.

Heero was sitting up in bed, the covers only partially on him. His chest and legs were naked and free for Duo's eye to wander... Duo slapped himself mentally and got to what he had come for.

"Remember that one time... about two-and-a-half years ago, when we were on better terms, and your mom and dad went out of town so you had to stay here, and you slept in my room because my Aunt Agnes was here visiting so you couldn't stay in the guest room and you didn't want to sleep in Relena's room? " Duo rushed out all in one breath.

"Hai."

"Well, um... that time, while you were sleeping, I drew a sketch of you that I later inked in..." Duo turned pink. "And um, Quatre handed it in to my teacher for my homework assignment, don't ask me how he'd seen it and you hadn't... We aren't friends anymore and all, and my teacher is insisting that I put it in a show at some gallery in town."

"Can I see the sketch?" Heero asked.

"Well, um no, because my teacher kept it. I think she thought I would do something to it, but I wouldn't have done anything anyway... I mean, it is a good art piece, even if it is of you... and it has nice values and all..."

"Duo," Heero said.

"Yes Heero?"

"Go to sleep. It's too early." Heero pulled Duo down on the bed and snuggled close. "And it's cold..."

Duo's eyes went wide as he was pinned down on the bed by a pair of arms as strong as steel. "Eep!"

"Sleep..." Heero's voice rumbled against his back.

* * *

**End notes:** Oneiric means of, regarding or suggestive of dreams.

Am I evil? Let me count the ways... No, just kidding. The next chapter is already written, so it won't be a big deal to get it posted in about a week... Yes, a week... That is when I have my next twenty minutes of free time!

Um... Yeah, Heero is OOC, but I warned you all about that in the beginning!

(1)_ Doodlin'_ is a jazz song put out by Uncjazz publishing. Jazz choir sang it last year at my school, and I like it lots. This is only a portion of the whole song. It goes on to have the fellow go to a psych, but the fellow teaches his psych to doodle, then later his girlfriend.

Soooo sleepy and cold....... It's cold in our house and I just woke up... Brrrrr....

(AN: I fixed something so if you're reading this again by some odd chance, or if you all get email alerts a second time (I have no clue how any of that works) I fixed something in the piano scene.)

Once again, email me any questions! R&R si vous plait!


	10. Ten: Recrudescent

**Something to Talk About**  
By Wolf Girl

_Disclaimer:_ I do not have any sort of ownership over the characters or the premise of Gundam Wing. I do not make any sort of profit off of this story.  
_Warnings:_ AU, Yaoi, minor Relena bastardization, OOC Heero (not stoic enough, please forgive me). MAJOR Lime/lemon in this chapter.  
_AN Warning:_ Unfortunately, my grammar and punctuation usage is a weird mix of American and British styles... Enough said.  
_Pairings:_ 1x2x1, others...

_Italics: _thought (unless obviously otherwise.)  
I_talics:_ flashback

* * *

**TEN: Recrudescent**

"Do you want to go eat dinner?" Duo asked, tapping his foot on the floor.

"No."

"My parents won't be back until next Thursday, my sister is staying at Dorothy's house, and I don't plan on staying here all the time, even if you _are _staying with me while they're gone! It's a Friday night! I'm going out. Do you want to go with me?"

"No."

Duo got up and went outside on the deck. Heero could see seething him through the French-doors. Duo tossed his head, the wind catching loose strands of his braided hair and blowing them into his face. He shaded his eyes against the setting sun. Heero turned away. When he looked back, Duo was staring at him. Heero met his gaze. Duo's eyes traveled his figure appraisingly.

_That's right, look, look, but never even try to touch. Leave me wanting always_. _Haven't I given you enough hints? Or is the past just that hard to live up?_

Duo heaved a noticeable sigh and came inside. "Are you sure? I'll wait for you to get ready." Duo fluttered his eyelashes appealingly. Heero shook his head.

Duo let out a noise of exasperation, then shut himself in their room and started rummaging through clothes. Heero could hear him slamming the closet door and the bureau drawers.

_Oh, I will... I'll wait for you to come home._ Heero thought to himself, sitting down to type on his laptop.

Duo came out a few minutes later looking like the devil he was. He wore a cutoff black fishnet shirt and tight black leather pants that barely rose to meet his hipbones. He had on big black boots that added a touch of bulkiness to the otherwise flowing lines of Duo's outfit, and wore silver bracelets that jangled when he moved his arms, creating a melodious sound that followed his every movement.

As Duo sauntered over, purposefully showing off his toned torso, Heero noticed the black kohl around his eyes and the mascara that made his eyelashes look even longer than they were. "I'm going out alone. Don't wait up, I'll be home before _curfew."_

"Hn." Heero moved his laptop further up on his lap, hoping that Duo wouldn't notice his body's approval of the other boy's outfit.

Duo frowned, then turned on his heels and walked out. Heero caught one last glimpse of his face before the door slammed.

* * *

The clock was chiming three in the morning when the front door was flung open. Heero stopped typing and looked up at the figure supporting himself in the doorway. "Heero, I told you not to wait up for me! You should have just come with me if you were gonna' stay up so late anyway." Duo was slightly tipsy.

"I wanted to come." _I didn't want to see you there, doing what you do._

"You told me twice that you didn't," Duo accused, walking closer to him and pointing a finger. His bracelets jingled to a stop.

Heero said nothing, just looked at him. Duo fidgeted, then grew impatient. "You're drunk." Heero assessed. _Too drunk._

"Not like you care anyway," Duo spat, "You're just Relena's toy. Stupid parents leaving me with you." Then he stalked away, slamming the door to their room. Heero went back to typing on his laptop.

A few minutes later, after it was quiet in the house, Heero stopped typing again. He suddenly heard moans coming from Duo's room._ Is he hurt? I shouldn't care... _Then, feeling guilty, he got up, curious, and tiptoed over to the door. He eased it open, peeking in.

Duo lay on the bed, panting as he stroked himself through his pants. Clothes still on, hair unbound and spread on the pillows behind him. His face was flushed. His leather pants were still on, but unbuttoned and bulging, and hugging him like they didn't want to let go.

Heero started to back away from the door, but stepped on a creaky floorboard. Duo's head snapped up, his violet eyes open wide with panic. He looked straight at Heero. Heero blushed heavily when he saw that Duo just sank back down and continue. Heero blushed. People just didn't do that when you caught them jacking off!

"You're probably disgusted with me. You wouldn't understand. You're too perfect. Who doesn't have needs? I have desperate needs. That's why I go out, to rub against someone else, to get human contact." Duo said. Heero gaped.

"There's a reason Relena likes you, a reason everyone likes you, Heero," Duo purred. _You're too sexy for your own good, with your muscles and blue eyes, and your thick hair tousled like that._ Duo gasped and arched his back as he fisted himself tightly.

"For someone who would have nothing to do with me, you seem awfully jealous." Duo stated.

"Standing there with that look in your eye. Jealous of my own hands."

Heero felt himself growing too tight for his spandex. Duo glanced downward at himself and growled. "Come here and let me help you with this... problem, Heero."

Heero stood entranced by the vision before him. He took a few hesitant steps forward. Duo stopped what he was doing and stood up. He grabbed Heero roughly by the neck and brought their faces crashing together.

"You pain me with your silence." Duo said as he nipped at Heero's neck hard enough to leave a mark. "Talk to me."

"Hn." Heero leaned into Duo's kisses and didn't say anymore. He let his hands start to wander over Duo's flesh.

"Why aren't we friends anymore?" Duo asked. _What are we doing?!_ Some part of him asked. _We hate each other! This has to be some weird twisted dream!_

"You decided that I was too good for your crowd." _And you were scared of me because I liked you. You seem to have forgotten that part._

"Well, why do we have to fight, can't we just be friends?" Duo queried, groaning lightly as Heero's hands caressed his back.

"Friends don't do this." Heero's mouth made its way down Duo's neck to his collarbone.

"Then I want to fight with you." Heero ground his hips against Duo's. Duo shivered. "If this is fighting..."

"If you want to fight, we'll fight. Omae o korosu, you tease," Heero growled, shoving Duo down on the mattress. Heero's mouth descended down and started a fierce battle with Duo's for dominance. Heero removed Duo's shirt, and set to work teasing his nipples into taut little peaks with his fingers.

Heero pulled away to take off his shirt. Duo stared for a moment at Heero's perfect chest and stomach. Duo pulled Heero roughly to him so that their lips met hotly. He licked his way down Heero's neck, gently biting and sucking on the bronzed skin. Finally, copying the boy's earlier action, he captured one of Heero's nipples in his mouth and rolled the rosy nub with his tongue. He could feel Heero's straining erection pressing urgently against his thigh as Heero shifted around, trying to get some friction.

Heero growled as Duo stopped. Heero reached down and grabbed Duo's waist and ground into him. Duo's back arched violently. _I don't think this is what my parents had in mind for me to do while they were gone, _that sensible part of him nagged. But then all other thoughts were driven out of his mind as Heero's hand unzipped his pants and dragged his length out.

Heero stared into Duo's eyes, recognizing the wonderfully tender and needy look.

_They lay on the grass, arms intertwined. Duo's head rested on Heero's shoulder. "I wish we could stay like this forever. Heero, you're my best friend. I can talk to you about anything."_

_**I wish you thought of me as a lover and not a brother.** Heero closed his eyes tightly. "Me too, Duo."_

"_G'night Heero." Duo yawned and snuggled closer. His eyelids fluttered shut._

"_Night Duo. I love you." Heero whispered, then let his eyes close. _

Heero froze, looking at Duo as Duo moaned beneath him and ground his hips upwards. When Heero did not move at all, Duo opened his eyes. "Heero?" Duo asked, confused.

_Relena stood up and was wandering around the circle. "Meilan, I dare you to flash everyone!" _

_Meilan's eyes bugged out slightly and she glanced around the room at the eyes on her. She lifted her shirt up quickly, then pulled it back down, allowing people only a glance of a lacy bra. "My turn!" She quickly changed the subject._

_Heero was lost in thought and didn't catch the calculating glance that came his way. **I wish Duo was here... But no, he had to get the flu! Maybe I shouldn't play this game.**_

"_I dare Heero to kiss Wufei! With tongue!!" Meilan crowed. _

_Wufei turned purple and Relena started to sputter. "But you can't do that!"_

"_No rules, Relena. Now Heero, get to it!" Meilan sat back and watched._

_Heero started. "What?" _

_Meilan sighed. "I dared you to kiss Wufei on the mouth, with tongue!"_

"_What if I want truth?"_

"_Then I want you to describe in detail the wettest dream you've ever had." Meilan evilly ordered._

_Heero blushed to the roots of his hair. The girls in the room stared interestedly as he seemed to mull it over. Then he got up and walked over to where Wufei was sitting. _

_Wufei grumbled to himself about injustice as Heero knelt in front of him. Heero leaned forward and gently captured Wufei's lips with his. _

_Wufei kept his lips tightly shut, but when Heero wound an arm around his waist and worked another into his hair, he suddenly moaned. Heero took the opportunity and thrust his tongue inside Wufei's mouth. Wufei groaned and stroked his tongue back._

_All Heero could think about was how good the kiss felt, but he suddenly had a picture of Duo if he found out about this. He broke away from the kiss suddenly when there was a flash in the room. He looked around and everyone watching let out their breath. Relena was waving a Polaroid around for it to dry. Heero twitched, got up again and went and sat in the corner of the room._

"_Heero, it's your turn now." Someone said._

"_Wufei can go instead," he grunted, then buried his face in his hands. _

_Wufei smirked and glared at Relena... _

Heero sat straddling Duo, so shocked that he was unable to move. Heero climbed off of Duo and started putting his pants back on. Duo sat up. "Heero!"

"..."

"Heero!"

"I'm not worthy of you."

"Heero what are you talking about?" Duo was angry now. "You can't just play with people like that!"

Heero stumbled out of the room muttering about being a traitor. Duo bit his lip as he turned and buried his face in his pillow. _I've only set myself up for heartbreak... _Tears streamed down his cheeks.

* * *

**End notes:** Recrudescent means breaking out again after a temporary supression.

I know, I'm very evil! You can send me emails about it if you wish. Suggestions, comments, questions, I am here to serve.

It might be another week or so, but maybe less, until the next chapter is done! Sorry about the wait, I'll try to make it short!

And as always R&R si vous plait!


	11. Eleven: Vapid

Hi again! You probably all hate me right now, but I have valid excuses. Where to start… I go to a boarding school but I'm a day student there. This means that the school has to keep their students busy all day (including me). This means that I leave for school at 7:30AM, and return at around 10:30PM (no joke). I have things to do at school on weekends as well. As you might imagine, this cuts down on my time available to write. I have a case of senioritis on top of this.

Also, this story had some plot problems, as pointed out by a reviewer. Thank you Green Bird for not giving any specifics in your "criticism" so that I had to figure them out for myself under my limited schedule.

Either way, this is not a good excuse for taking so long. I did say it would be about a week, but it has been much longer than that, so I apologise. There's just one thing I want to say before I give way to the chapter.

To my understanding, the purpose of warnings in fanfiction is a way to distinguish it between the real show and the fiction. Obviously everybody is going to have a different viewpoint about characters, personalities, and what they would like to see happen in the show. Being true, each person will do slightly different things with the characters in the fiction. Warnings are there to help a person decide if they actually want to read the fiction after all. So, in the case that you don't like if someone makes Heero have a personality, or Relena unpleasant, or has Duo acting funny, then _just don't read the fic._ That's my advise to you.

Without further ado, here's chapter eleven of _Something to Talk About._

(r2gn)

**Something to Talk About  
**By Wolf Girl 

_Disclaimer:_ I do not have any sort of ownership over the characters or the premise of Gundam Wing. I do not make any sort of profit off of this story. The title of this song is from a Bonnie Raitt song of the same name.  
_Warnings: _AU, Yaoi, minor Relena bastardization, OOC Heero (not stoic enough, please forgive me).  
_AN Warning:_ Unfortunately, my grammar and punctuation usage is a weird mix of American and British styles... Enough said.  
_Pairings:_ 1x2x1, 3x4, others...

_Italics_ thought (unless obviously otherwise).

(r2gn)

**ELEVEN: Vapid **

_Journal Entry #93_

_That bastard Yuy. He likes to play with people's emotions to make up for his own lack of them. I can't believe that I thought he cared about me. He's so easy to trust._

_This is just like how things turned out when we were kids. _

_(r2gn)_

_I don't know when the last time I found myself thinking so much. It's making it hard to tune out her chatter._ Heero stared at Relena, then noticed that his mouth was hanging open slightly. He closed it quickly and drummed his fingers on the tabletop.

Relena's mouth stopped moving, and she stared at his fingers. "Hee-chan, is there something wrong?"

_Even Relena notices, _he thought. "No, nothing."

"Oh okay. Anyway, we should get going because our next class is soon." Relena stood up, taking her tray as well as Heero's and started walking. Heero dutifully stood up and followed her out into the hallway.

It was getting harder and harder to be emotionless. He just wanted to punch the wall sometimes, to feel the plaster give way and his bones to make the harsh impact. It seemed like it would be more real than his life.

Heero saw Duo in the hallway. Duo glanced his way for a split second, and the look burnt into Heero. Heero opened his mouth, but Duo turned his head away and walked faster in the opposite direction.

Heero sighed as Relena ran up and grabbed his arm, chattering away about something unintelligible. They had walked a few feet when someone grabbed his shoulder.

"Yuy." Heero stopped and turned. He hoped unreasonably that it was Duo, but instead Treize stood there with a frown on his face. Heero nodded silently in acknowledgement.

"What did you do to Duo? He's never this quiet. _Ever._" Treize glared at the boy.

"Oh, it's not Hee-chan's fault at all that Duo's in such a horrible mood. He's just put out because he can't have Hee-chan. Hee-chan is mine you know. Heero can't help it that Duo's always had a crush on him, I mean that picture he painted of him—" Relena clapped her hand to her mouth, blue eyes wide. "I mean—I have to get to class."

Heero turned white and felt very faint while Treize stood gaping like a fish as Relena hurried away as fast as her little pink pumps would carry her.

(r2gn)

"_Oh Heero, can I talk to you for a moment?" _

"_What?"_

_Relena stood smirking at him. She knew she had won already. "It's about my party."_

"_What about it?" Heero glared, but it had no effect. The girl was so desperate for friends, for him to like her, for any kind of attention. _

"_It's about the picture I took. The one that I'm going to show Duo tomorrow."_

_Heero stopped dead still. Not a muscle moved in his face save a slight twitch of his left eyebrow._

"_I'll show it to him if you won't be my friend. You can't hang out with him anymore. If I show him the picture, he'll be heartbroken. You know, it was such a shame about his parents passing away and his last boyfriend dying in a car crash. You should really protect him from another broken heart. That's all you're good for, you know, to be protective. You don't have any emotion." Relena said, the words rushing out before she could stop herself. She felt better, having let her venom free. She could be clean of such words now. She'd have her Heero, and her adoptive brother wouldn't get anything._

_Heero just reached his hand out for the picture. _

"_Tomorrow night, at 8 o'clock sharp." She handed him the Polaroid picture and watched as he ripped it in half. He wouldn't go back on his word._

Heero's fingers stroked the keys, playing gently but captivatingly, like a lifeline for sound.

He poured his feeling into the music, not leaving any to be betrayed to one looking at his face. _I must be strong, as a rock, as the rushing water, as the beating heart. My wants must not get in the way of duty._

The sound of keys in the lock interrupted his mantra. Heero hit a wrong note as the door slammed shut. There wasn't the sound of someone singing, like usual. There wasn't the sound of boots walking toward the living room, like usual.

Those boots just stomped up the stairwell, deafening even on the carpeted floor. Heero looked back to his sheet music and suddenly didn't feel like playing anymore.

He slumped on the piano bench and shoved it back a few feet. He kicked his foot a couple times. It swung lazily in an uninterrupted arc, then fell back down. He cradled his head in his arm and set them down on the piano keys, laying there in the reverberating clash, letting the harmonics drown out his thoughts.

Duo sat on his bed and carefully sealed away thebrown cardboard box with packing tape. It held all of the pictures he'd done that were of Heero or were based on Heero that hadn't been taken by his art teacher. He wrote on it "Artwork- To be opened never" in fat blue sharpie print.

He shoved it under his bed and kicked it once for good measure. He was done with that. _Now there's only the art show, but I think I can manage if Heero doesn't come to it._

(r2gn)

_Endnotes: _Vapid means lacking life or spirit; unanimated; flat or dull.

Yes, I am plugging Rotengen by Hyde in my plot-spacers. Deal with it!

Most of this chapter is in Heero's point of view, except for the journal entry. It was fun to develop Heero's character more.

If you are looking for a boring book that if you actually manage to struggle through it you will have better writing skills, take a look at _the Lively Art of Writing_, which is anything but lively, but very informative.

E-mail me any questions! R&R si vous plait!


	12. Twelve: Lacuna

**Something to Talk About**  
By Wolf Girl 

_Disclaimer: _I do not have any sort of ownership over the characters or the premise of Gundam Wing. I do not make any sort of profit off of this story.  
_Warnings_: AU, Yaoi, minor Relena bastardization, OOC Heero (not stoic enough, please forgive me).  
_AN Warning:_ Unfortunately, my grammar and punctuation usage is a weird mix of American and British styles... Enough said.  
_Pairings:_ R1, 132, 1x2x1, 3x4, others...  
_Italics thought_ (unless obviously otherwise.)

* * *

**TWELVE: Lacuna **

Quatre and Trowa sat next to each other, happily holding hands. Quatre talked to Duo animatedly.

"And then Mr. Mann said to me, 'You are doing excellent work, but I think you could do better.' Then he gave me even more homework!"

Duo sighed heavily. "That's horrible Quatre. Hey, I think I'm gonna' go now. I feel like taking a walk."

"You want me to come with you?" Quatre asked earnestly.

"No, it's okay. Enjoy yourself." Duo said, and excused himself. The cool air hit him in a rush of reality. The streetlights outside were glaring down into the street, reflecting off of the puddles of water from yesterday's rain. Duo glanced up and down the street, then crossed it. After wandering aimlessly for a while, he found himself standing in front of the jazz club. He opened the door and walked in, sliding into a seat at the bar.

The bartender raised an eyebrow. Duo shrugged, and the man sighed. "01 is playing again… You know him? He's a mysterious one."

Duo blanched a little. "We're acquainted." He made a face, taking a gulp of beer. "Got anything stronger?"

"Not for you," the bartender said with a straight face. "He's coming on now."

Duo spun around on the barstool before he realized what he was doing. Heero was sitting down to the piano. Heero fidgeted for a moment, then set his hands down on the keys, crashingly, loudly. It got the attention of all the bar's occupants. He adjusted a microphone that was leaning over the piano so it was nearer to his mouth.

**My funny valentine  
Sweet comic valentine  
You make me smile with my heart  
Your looks are laughable  
Unphotographable  
Yet you're my favourite work of art**

Most of the patrons continued drinking and chatting, but quieter so they could hear the music. Duo gaped. _Heero hates to sing in public. _

The bartender looked at him with an amused expression. "He's only been singing here for about a month. He used to just play the piano."

**Is your figure less than greek  
Is your mouth a little weak  
When you open it to speak  
Are you smart?**

**But don't change a hair for me  
Not if you care for me  
Stay little valentine stay  
Each day is valentine's day**

The song ended. People were still talking. A few scattered patches of applause were heard. Heero's ears were turning pink.

"This one is _O Occhi Manza Mia_, 'the eyes of my beloved'." Heero half-whispered. This time silence descended.

**O occhi manza mia,  
****o occhi manza mia,  
****cigli dorati. **

Heero wasn't a brilliant singer, but he was exceptional. His voice was sultry with emotion. His tone of voice had changed between the slightly silly song to a rich tone to match the Italian love song. Duo found a pleasant shiver crawling up his spine as Heero looked directly at him and held his gaze.

**O faccia d'una luna,  
****o faccia d'una luna  
****stralucente. **

Duo forced himself to turn away, facing the counter again. The bartender barely looked as he placed another beer on the table. All the bartender's attention was on the man singing and playing the piano in the back of the bar.

**Tienimi mente,  
****gioia mia bella,  
****guardami un poco a me  
****fammi contento.**

Duo drained his second beer and put a five dollar bill on the counter. He stood, jammed his hands in his pockets. He looked back one last time as Heero stood up and took a bow, then seated himself as people began to shout out requests of songs.

_It doesn't change anything. _

**

* * *

****End notes:** Lacuna means a missing part; a gap. 

Well, it's a short chapter, but it is still a chapter. A new one should come soon.

_My Funny Valentine_ is sung by various people, including Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. If you haven't heard it (which is (hopefully) unlikely, you should listen to it because it's a good old song.

**O Occhi Manza Mia (O Eyes of my beloved) **is a particularly gorgeous song. Here is a translation of the lyrics. In case you didn't guess, it's a love song.

_**Italian translation**: _O eyes of my beloved, O eyes of my dear love, beneath arch'd brows glancing! O face like moon-beams glowing, O face like moon-beams glowing  
in pale beauty! If in thy memory, my radiant jewel, one little thought you'll hold for me, 'twill make me content.

E-mail me any questions! R&R si vous plait!


	13. Thirteen: Evincing

**Something to Talk About**  
By Wolf Girl

_Disclaimer: _I do not have any sort of ownership over the characters or the premise of Gundam Wing. I do not make any sort of profit off of this story.  
_Warnings_: AU, Yaoi, minor Relena bastardization, OOC Heero (not stoic enough, please forgive me).  
_AN Warning:_ Unfortunately, my grammar and punctuation usage is a weird mix of American and British styles... Enough said.  
_Pairings:_ 1x2x1, 3x4, others...  
_Italics thought_ (unless obviously otherwise.)

**Author's notes:** Hey all! This took me way too long. A bit of advice, don't try to remove a disk when you're saving… It's not a smart idea. Anyway, on another note, I have the next two chapters pretty much written so it shouldn't be too long before they're up as well.  
Thanks to Kawaii Tenshi for my 100th review! This isn't a fic-related present, but I liked it enough for a present. You can see your present at

**http:www . geocities . com/ rep4sddbp/ shinigami . html**

I'm not sure how many consecutive visits the site can support; so don't open it too many times in one day.  
Anyway, here's the next chapter!

* * *

**Thirteen: Evincing**

* * *

Duo picked at his plate, shoving the French fries to one side, then another, as they flopped unappetizingly. "Stupid art show…" He looked up through his bangs at the other people at his table. Trowa and Quatre chatted happily. Well, Quatre talked and Trowa listened. Duo's eyes flicked to the left, and saw Treize munching on a carrot and leaning back in his chair. Treize glanced over and caught Duo's eye. He smiled broadly. Duo blushed and looked away.

At another table, Relena was talking to a very blank looking Heero. If Duo didn't know better he would think that Heero was actually asleep. Almost as if he knew Duo was observing him, Heero turned his head to stare at Duo. He kept eye contact for a moment before Relena grabbed his chin and turned his head back toward her.

Duo looked back at Treize. "There's this art show on Friday night. I have a piece in it. My parents were supposed to go with me, but they went out of town to visit my brother at his college. Would you, go with me?"

Quatre and Trowa had stopped talking and were looking at Duo as well. Duo looked back over at the other table. Heero was looking at him again. "As my date?" Duo turned to look at Treize.

"I would be delighted to accompany you to this art show. I will dress in my finest apparel and spend my evening gazing at your painting with awe," Treize embellished easily, waving his hand lazily in the air. Duo blushed then smiled shyly.

"Great."

* * *

Duo stood near his painting, fidgeting with his tie, the hem of his suit jacket, the end of his braid. Treize stood next to him, looking dashing in a black suit with a red shirt and white tie. "It's alright. Don't be nervous. Your painting is much better than the others here." Treize whispered, leaning down to be level with Duo's ear.

"I just wish they would get to me," Duo said. "I still can't believe my parents decided to go visit Zechs. It's not even anything special at the college right now. It's the middle of the term for god's sake."

"I'm sure they miss him. It's hard to have a child gone at college," Treize said placatingly. "Why don't I go find a show coordinator and get us some drinks?"

Duo nodded, his eyebrows furrowed. Treize smiled slightly and smacked Duo on the butt. Duo jumped. "Your shoelace is untied." Treize smirked at him and went off to find a coordinator.

As he looked up from fixing his shoelace, Duo saw Relena standing looking at him with a smug expression on her face. She was wearing a rose coloured dress complete with matching shoes, headband and handbag.

"Why are you here?" Duo asked. "I didn't invite you."

"Mother and father gave me their tickets once they knew they couldn't come. And after all, why shouldn't I see my brother's first art show?" Relena arranged her hair using the mirror in her compact. "I even brought a date. See you later." She wandered off, holding her head high.

Duo watched in disgust as she left. One of the art show coordinators came over to Duo and informed him that his painting was the next to be shown. Duo nodded absent-mindedly.

A few minutes later, Duo's painting was uncovered. The crowd that had wandered over was silent. Duo stood looking at the painting. He had forgotten how much he had loved painting it. Each brush stroke seemed to have a purpose.

Duo turned away from the painting finally, and faced the crowd. The people looked at him, and whispers of, "He's so young." were heard throughout the room.

"Five hundred!" A man with a Texan accent boomed. There was instantly a clamor of numbers being yelled in the room.

"Twelve-hundred!"

"Ladies and gentleman, this painting is not for sale. If you would like to look at some of my other works, my portfolio is over on the table near the entrance." Duo shifted weight from one foot to another, wishing his shoes were more comfortable.

The man with a Texan accent made a derisive noise. "Now there, boy, I will pay you two-thousand for that painting!"

"Two-thousand three-hundred," another man in a dark suit offered.

Duo shook his head. "No, I'm afraid I can't sell it. It has too much sentimental value." A few people made noises of disappointment.

"Three thousand." A deep voice resonated under the noise. People turned to look at the dark haired boy who had said it.

"The model… It's the model," they whispered, letting him make his way forward. They looked him up and down carefully. The man with the Texan accent once again was heard in the room. "It can't be the model. This one is too serious. The model is obviously in love, it can't be that fellow."

For Duo there was no one else in the room. "You don't have three thousand," he accused. Heero's eyes locked with his, searchingly. Duo fiddled with his tie. "I won't sell it for less."

"I've been working in the jazz bar for over three years. I have it." Heero took a few steps toward Duo. They were standing almost side-by-side now, not facing the painting, but not facing each other either.

"It's not for sale," Duo whispered, his voice sounding false even in his own ears. "You weren't supposed to ever see this." He averted his eyes from Heero's face.

"I'll pay you in cash tomorrow," Heero said finally.

"Alright." Duo nodded meekly. Heero stood looking at the painting. Duo sighed and went to find Treize. He suddenly didn't feel like being there anymore.

* * *

**Endnotes:** Evince means to show in a clear manner, bring to light. It is a verb, hence "evincing".

Hey now, that chapter wasn't too depressing. I bet you're curious about what that painting is of exactly. Well, you won't find out quite yet, so keep wondering. You can email me what you think it is if you want. If you can guess it I'll tell you. But I'm warning you; it's not what you think!

Well, until next time! If you have any comments or questions drop me a line! As always, r&r si vous plait!


	14. Fourteen: Lachrymose

**Something to Talk About**  
By Wolf Girl 

_Disclaimer:_ I do not have any sort of ownership over the characters or the premise of Gundam Wing. I do not make any sort of profit off of this story.  
_Warnings:_ AU, Yaoi, minor Relena bastardization, OOC Heero (not stoic enough, please forgive me).  
_AN Warning:_ Unfortunately, my grammar and punctuation usage is a weird mix of American and British styles... Enough said.  
_Pairings:_ R+1, 13+2, 1x2x1, others...  
_Italics thought_ (unless obviously otherwise.)

**Author's Notes:** This got up a lot faster. It's not a record, but it works! School is back in, so the next one might be a while. I have finished writing the outline though, so not too long. Oh yeah, and I posted this last night with a couple errors, so here's the new version now, on the 10th, at 8:45AM.

**

* * *

**

Fourteen: Lachrymose

* * *

"And that's why I've decided to go to an art college in New York. I can use the scholarship money and the money I got from selling the painting-- "

"You sold the painting?" His parents asked, shocked. "We didn't even get to see it!"

Relena stared at him as if he had grown another head. "You sold the painting? You said it wasn't for sale."

"Yes. He sold it." Heero affirmed, glaring at Duo to keep him from saying anything else. Relena fell silent. Duo looked at Heero for a moment, then continued.

"Anyway, I can use the money I got from selling the painting to help pay for college. And I got offers on some other paintings, so I can use that money too."

Duo's parents chattered happily about Duo's decision. Relena looked at him in a sneakily pleased manner, but still offered her congratulations. On the other side of the long dining table, Heero just stared at him in shock.

Duo refused to make eye contact.

* * *

Relena sat down on the edge of his bed, making it dip significantly. "You sold Heero the painting," she announced. "I saw it in his room."

"Yes." _Why were you in his room?_

"And you're leaving to go to college." Relena continued.

"Yes. Get out of my room." Duo groaned, too sad to bother much. _I'm leaving my life._

"You made a good decision. Because, you know, after college, Heero won't want to have a painter living with him, a hippy artist to introduce to his friends and bosses. He'll want some nice girl who'll make things nice for him."

Duo looked up at Relena through tear-clouded eyes.

"You weren't meant to be. I mean, you couldn't keep Hilde, or any of your other girlfriends, so you decided to be gay instead. That's how you are. Heero's too good for you. Even for me, though I am the best he'll find here in this town. That's why _he_ picked _me_. But he has goals and I know he'll achieve them. Maybe he'll come back to me."

Duo started. "I have dreams too." _Grand dreams._

"None of them involve living with anyone else, do they? A painter like you has to be alone to succeed. There's no room for anyone else in your future. You'll just make him unhappy." Relena stood up. "I'm going to my room. When you quit crying, you know what you need to do."

Duo sat up.

* * *

"Duo, I need to tell you something." Heero said.

"There isn't anything to say." Duo turned away. He opened the closet door and took a jacket off of a hanger.

"When we were younger, we were very close. We were best friends, and starting to be something else. I know we never talk about this."

"We don't," Duo acknowledged stiffly. He continued pulling on his jacket.

"Then something happened—You need to know. That time you were sick and Relena had her birthday party. We—we played truth or dare. And I had to kiss Wufei. Relena took a Polaroid of us kissing. Then she blackmailed me with the photo. She said she'd show you if I didn't hang out with her." Heero realized how lame it was all starting to sound. "I didn't want to hurt you. I knew you had feelings for me, and we were so young. I hung out with her, and you grew so distant, then you moved away. When you left, you didn't return my letters or calls, and I just—I started to depend on Relena for friendship. I—I don't talk much."

Heero took a deep breath. "And when you came home for breaks, you avoided me, and Relena—she got you to hate me. I couldn't stand to see the hurt in your eyes, so I stopped trying. So much had changed in two years." Heero looked at the floor.

"You pushed me away, then when I came back from school, you always hung out with her, and never me. What was I supposed to think? And then when I was expelled I come back to find you going out with my sister. You were hitting on me while dating my sister. I didn't know what to think." Duo stopped talking, unable to continue.

"That night—when we—I stopped because I felt so guilty because of what had happened. Then I saw your painting. Duo, I'll always wait for you."

"I don't want you to wait for me. I'll ruin your plans. We aren't meant for each other. If we let what happened before come between us, how will we fare when our paths part? You won't have room for me in your goals. I'll just get in your way."

"Have you been talking to Relena?" Heero's hands were shaking in clenched fists.

"Yes, but for once she's helped me understand something." Duo looked back at him steadfastly. Heero started to say something. "You should leave." He turned away.

Heero stormed out. Duo ran up to his room and threw himself on his bed, not trying to hold back the tears anymore. Somehow, nothing had gotten any better.

There was yelling downstairs, or rather, Relena yelling and someone else talking in a loud, deep voice. A resounding crack drifted up the stairwell and into his room.

Duo sat up as a wailing Relena ran past his open door. He sat up. Then there was the slam of a door, judging by the loud sound of it, the front door.

* * *

Duo moped. He moped in his coffee, and he moped over waffles, which he didn't want to eat anyway. _Relena won't come out of her room, maybe she'll eat them. _

"What's wrong, honey?" his mother asked, concerned, but pre-occupied enough to be filling out some sort of forms at the breakfast-table.

"Nothing. I just didn't sleep well." Duo mumbled. It was true, he hadn't slept well.

"Well, don't be late for school." His mother turned back to her paperwork.

* * *

Duo opened the door. Heero stood behind it, and Duo let him in, just like every other time Duo had opened the door to him.

There was no Relena home this time.

Heero looked at the ground. Duo looked at the painting of the horses or people or whatever in the entryway, wondering if it was there solely to distract people from uncomfortable situations.

"I can work things out. It'll be better now. Relena—She doesn't have to be around. I'm done with her tricks and games."

"No, it won't... Heero, I'm sorry! It's me. I was leading you on to think... To think that something might have become of this... But nothing will happen! You and I, we'll both go on to college and forget about each other!"

Heero just stared at him with a look like a kicked puppy. There were tears glistening in the corners of his eyes.

"I'll go on to Art College... You'll go on to Harvard or Princeton or Pepperdine or whatever other school you please... There's a nice girl out there for you someplace."

"I've only wanted you all my life." Heero made it sound like the simplest thing in the world.

Duo shook his head, trying to clear his own tears away. "Stop! You're making this harder than it is!"

"Why? Why?" Heero set down what he was carrying. He knelt down and cradled Duo's hand with his own and pressed his lips to it gently.

Duo flinched and removed his hand from Heero's grasp. "I can't do this! We're too different. Heero, you have a chance!"

"Duo, I love you."

"I know... " Duo finally got his resolve together. "And that is why we can't see each other anymore. We'll only end up getting hurt!"

Heero looked at him in disbelief. Duo stared at him evenly. Heero turned and ran outside into the heavy rain. Panicked, Duo followed.

Heero stood in the driveway looking up at the heavy clouds. His navy suit was soaked and his hair was water-slicked from its normal unruliness into a wet mass that fell straight downwards.

Duo looked at him, his mind already made up. "Please, don't look that way," he pleaded, his hair clinging to his face in wet strands that dripped water onto his neck and shoulders. Duo shivered as a breeze hit him. "Don't be so cold."

Heero remained silent, staring still at the dark shadows of the clouds swirling overhead.

"I guess this is good-bye then," Duo whispered.

Heero turned to look at him with an empty stare that pierced through all his pride and stripped him of his considerations. The emotions hit Duo like something solid, washing up around his walls of defense. Duo shook his head vigorously, breaking away from Heero's gaze, then turned and walked into the house, dead bolting the door behind him.

**

* * *

****End notes:** Lachrymose means showing sorrow. 

E-mail me any questions as usual! R&R si vous plait!


	15. Fifteen: Palindrome

**Something to Talk About**  
By Wolf Girl 

_Disclaimer:_ I do not have any sort of ownership over the characters or the premise of Gundam Wing. I do not make any sort of profit off of this story.  
_Warnings:_ AU, Yaoi, minor Relena bastardization, OOC Heero (not stoic enough, please forgive me).  
_AN Warning:_ Unfortunately, my grammar and punctuation usage is a weird mix of American and British styles... Enough said.  
_Pairings:_ R+1, 13+2, 1x2x1, 3x4, others...  
_Italics thought_ (unless obviously otherwise).

**Author's note: To reviewer IchigoPocky- strange you should mention a wedding... evil grin This chapter starts immediately after the last one.**

* * *

**Fifteen: Palindrome **

* * *

"Good-bye." 

Duo turned from the door and noticed a parcel wrapped in brown paper and tied with a simple string. He lifted it up carefully so that his sleeve wasn't dripping water on it. He pulled the string loose with shaking hands. It was the painting.

Duo's breath hitched and a sob escaped. There was a note written in Heero's neat handwriting

_I can't keep this painting. It is my gift back to you. It belongs to you solely. You captured my soul and my heart._

Duo's tears fell on the note, leaving wet droplets on the paper. Duo wiped it away, smearing the ink. He wiped his eyes. Duo started up the stairs, carrying the painting with him. The phone rang. Duo slowly lifted it off the receiver. "Hello?" He wiped his eyes.

"What is it? What! You're getting married?"

* * *

"Ow! Do you have to stab me with the pins?" Duo whined, trying to reach back to rub the sore spot, only to have his arm yanked back into place. 

"Stop moving or it'll be crooked. Do you want a crooked tux for your brother's wedding?" Hilde demanded through a mouthful of pins. Duo stood still.

"Just be glad you're getting all these commissions. I owed you big time so I thought I would recommend you." Duo winced as he was jabbed with another pin. "Relena had a fit when she heard we were going to be hiring a student designer. Would you stop jabbing me!"

"I already went through four fittings today, two with your dearest sister. I have no patience left for squirming bodies. If you move it'll be your own fault."

"Some best friend you are." Duo grumbled under his breath.

_

* * *

__Treize turned the car onto the highway. "That went well, didn't it?" _

_Duo didn't say anything, just stared out the side of the car. The wind rushing by in the convertible was a comfortable distraction from life. _

"_I saw that you sold Heero the painting." Treize's voice was quiet._

"_It's of him, after all. He deserves to have it. He's paying big for it too." Duo scowled. _

"_You're in love with him, aren't you? You wouldn't have painted something like that if you weren't." Treize had turned off of the highway, and they were stopped at an intersection. The streetlight buzzed as they waited for the light to change._

"_I was in love with him. Now… Things are complicated." Duo shrugged and huddled down in his jacket, looking small in the seat. The light changed._

* * *

Duo pulled at his bow tie unhappily. There was no time to be unhappy. His brother was getting married in less than ten minutes. He fidgeted in his seat, then got up, heading into the house. 

He walked around the corner, then stopped, recognizing voices. He backed away, then stuck his head out so he could see what was happening without being noticed.

"Heero, I don't understand."

"Relena, stop following me. I told you, it's over."

"I'll tell Duo about the photo! I'll tell people at school you're gay!" Relena shrieked.

"You have nothing to hold me to any longer. I told Duo about the picture. I lost him, there's no longer any reason for me to pretend to enjoy your company." Heero started to walk toward the corner, and Duo pulled back sharply.

"Heero! You can't do this to me!"

When no one came, Duo peeked back out. Relena had a death-grip on Heero's tux jacket.

"Relena, we're over. You have plenty of people around you to turn to. I have no one now."

Duo quickly ducked into a room as Heero came around the corner, then inched out again. A moment later Relena came through the hallway.

"You!" She shouted when she saw Duo. "It's your fault, you slutty bastard! You tricked him then tossed him aside. You should be ashamed of yourself." Relena sniffed haughtily. "I have to go to my _real_ brother's wedding. You should go-- someplace else."

She swept out the back door and into the yard where the guests were seated.

"Relena, where's Duo. He's going to miss the ceremony!" Mrs. Peacecraft hissed.

"I don't know." Relena replied tightly, watching the flower girl walk down the aisle. She glanced sideways at Heero. "Someplace he thinks is more important." She sniffed again and turned away.

Heero quietly slipped out of his chair.

* * *

Duo pressed the door closed. "Go away!" There was a powerful surge, and he was shoved back from the door. Heero squeezed into the space he had created. 

"Duo, stop!" Heero raised his arm to protect himself as a plant was ripped out of its pot and flung, dirt and all, at him. The dirt rained down on him. "Duo, I'm going to talk to you whether you like it or not."

With a flying tackle into the corner, and Heero landing heavily on top of him, Duo came to an abrupt halt. He tried to flail his arms, but found them pressed firmly to the floor of the greenhouse. "I know what you saw, and I want to tell you you're wrong." Duo wiggled his body wildly, trying to get free.

Duo closed his eyes. "I didn't see or think anything," he protested. "Let me up!" he said and gave one last struggle. Heero's hand smoothed his bangs away from his eyes.

"I can only say that I won't ever leave you." Heero whispered, clutching Duo tightly. "I can't stand it! It's like ripping part of my heart out. Why did you run from me?"

"You know me. I run, I hide, but I never lie." Duo tried to joke, but knew it was no use. He felt tears well in his eyes. "I was lying to myself, I couldn't lie to you too."

"Duo, you don't ever have to lie to me." Heero cupped his cheek in his hand. "I love you."

"What about—"

"Only you." Heero said seriously. Duo nodded, kissing him softly.

Heero didn't move off him. Duo stared at him for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Y-you look so serious, and there's g-grass and dirt all in your hair!" Heero looked mildly offended. "Well, you wouldn't have caught me if I hadn't tripped on that pipe. I feel like I'm ten when you're around. All arms and legs." Duo pulled a clump of dirt out of Heero's hair.

Heero breathed a sigh of relief. "Heero? Can I get up now?"

"It's better than that painting of me from the time we went skinny dipping in the ocean." Heero sighed.

"That masterpiece of mine? I snuck the draft drawing while you were sleeping, and I took a picture for colour reference. It wasn't my fault you fell asleep naked in the sand."

"I love it. I want that picture's negative though. No more secrets." Heero got up and held out his hand to Duo. Duo jumped up and began to brush himself off.

"No more secrets." Duo nodded, starting to brush Heero off enthusiastically. He leaned in close to him. "I want to be with you forever" Duo whispered into Heero's ear.

Heero wrapped an arm around Duo's waist as they exited the greenhouse.

"Until death do us part." The noise from the ceremony drifted over the wall of rose bushes. They stepped out from behind the bushes to the edge of the ceremony. The minister spoke again. "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Heero leaned in and kissed Duo softly.

_Owari._

**

* * *

****Endnotes:** Palindrome means a phrase that reads the same backward as forward. 

R&R si vous plait! E-mail me any questions! No flame reviews please!


	16. Thanks and Endnotes

Well, that was a fun story to write. It ran away from my original storyline and no matter how much I tried to hem in Heero's spandex, or pin back Duo's hair, they just wouldn't follow orders.

I like how it turned out though.

Lessee… First, I'd like to say that I always write 1x2, or 2x1, or 1x2x1, so no mystery on the pairings. Then I'd like to plug two upcoming fics of mine. The first one is, well, it's interesting to say the least. It's another school fic, but _very_ different from the last. It is inspired by Romeo and Juliet, and I mean the play, not the storyline. This fic is shortcoming.

The second fic is a different caliber, and is an AU sci-fi fic. I won't say anything else about this right now. This one can be expected around summertime.

Now, back to Something to Talk About. I want to thank everyone who helped me with this, and I want to give a special thanks to all my reviewers! _(Or, if you wish, just scroll down to the bottom to see the song lyrics to this fic that started it all!)_

Aspara  
Kitty Kat 0303  
HeeroDuo1x2x1  
Kuroi gami  
Rebriwien  
Ania-akatrickx  
Princess2000204  
Juliana  
(anonymous)  
XxMelodyxX  
NailPolishBunny  
**FRuiTdevil (my muse! Squee! )  
**Camillian  
Chibimecools  
Snoggitz  
Oliversgurl  
SilverMirror  
MLG  
Crazy-lil-nae-nae  
Tsumaki-chan  
CitizenCobalt  
Rena Lupin  
DracO  
MakiNeko  
Kimpatsu no Hoseki  
Karashaket  
Pet-the-Kitty  
Windy River  
PrincessCherryblossom3  
M-python-girl  
Nicole  
Duos-deathscythe  
Areku Onee Chan  
Son of Twilight  
Ookami-metsuki  
BeastlyNeko  
CHix0r Neko  
ilikesaddleshoes  
Bex Drake  
suncatcher277  
Kumori Tsuki  
Jess-eklom  
Sara  
Green Bird  
**KawaiiTenshi27 (100th reviewer!)**  
Keishuusakka  
Bellaluna  
The Anonymous Smiley Face  
Medik  
Luffy V'shile  
Death Pheonix  
Duo-23  
Kotoko  
Kristensan  
Kate  
Wiccachic  
Lollysister  
Hazardess  
YukiGoku  
Ravel queen  
Liz  
Laru  
Nymph Demon  
Lun4r-flow3r  
Therealnataku  
Ryoko3600  
Kyou  
Solo  
Highperil  
Sunstreake  
Fallen to Darkness  
Zakai  
Maureen  
Nikkler  
System-dOWN  
Mugong Fangyuzhe  
Sanzo  
Hanyou Inu Yasha1  
'Lizabeth  
Cat Demon Valkyrie  
Sataness-ov-desire  
N/a (anonymous)  
Comet  
IchigoPocky  
Foxy-comic-death  
Flamesolo  
Hellbourne Alchemist

_Here are the song lyrics to this fic that started it all!_

**Something to Talk About  
**(sung by Bonnie Raitt, off the **Luck of the Draw** album) 

People are talkin, talking 'bout people  
I hear them whisper, you won't believe it  
They think we're lovers kept under covers  
I just ignore it, but they keep saying  
We laugh just a little too loud  
We stand just a little too close  
We stare just a little too long  
Maybe they're seeing, something we don't, Darlin'

(chorus)Let's give them something to talk about  
Let's give them something to talk about  
Let's give them something to talk about  
How about love?

I feel so foolish, I never noticed  
You'd act so nervous, could you be falling for me?  
It took a rumor to make me wonder  
Now I'm convinced I'm going under  
Thinking 'bout you every day  
Dreaming 'bout you every night  
Hoping that you feel the same way  
Now that we know it, let's really show it, Darlin'

(chorus repeat)

Let's give them something to talk about  
A little mystery to figure out  
Let's give them something to talk about  
How about love, love, love, love?

(chorus repeat)

Let's give them something to talk about  
Let's give them something to talk about  
Let's give them something to talk about  
How about love, love, love, love?


End file.
